A Different Choice
by Kyuubi16
Summary: Hiruzen, Jiraiya, and Kakashi all made the choice to be there for Naruto and honor Minato and Kushina's sacrifice. A few years late, but better late than never. This leads to a surviving Uzumaki coming to Naruto and teaching him his heritage. Leading to ripples throughout the world and changing some things.
1. They All Made A Choice!

A Different Choice

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Naruto x ?

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Story Start

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In the ruins of what was once the famed Uzu No Kuni traveled a man. A man with faint tan and long red hair. This man Kazuma Uzumaki took one last look of his home land. The home land of the deceased Uzumaki clan. It was the very clan that was once known and feared for bringing forth powerful seal masters like no other.

The Uzumakis were also known for many things besides seals. They were also known for having massive amounts of chakra and longevity, out living most and seeing many years. They even created seals that were powerful enough to contain Kyuubi, the strongest of the nine Bijuus. In fact, many of the seals the ninjas in Konoha used were designed by the Uzumaki clan.

In fact the Uzumaki were a sibling line to the Senju, sharing ancestry to the Rikudo Sennin himself.

The union of this line was brought forth through the union of Shodaime Hokage, Senju Hashirama and Uzumaki Mito thus uniting the two clans by marriage. In fact the Konoha shinobi wore symbols that represented the Uzumaki clan on their very uniforms.

Even with all their prestige the famed clan had many enemies. The fear of their prowess grew to the point a joint attack occurred and wiped out most of the clan.

The survivors scattered throughout the world. Even the survivors were not always so lucky, one was Uzumaki Kushina who was brought to Konoha before the destruction of her clan to become the next Jinchuuriki of Kyuubi since Mito, the first Jinchuuriki of Kyuubi, was reaching the end of her life. Kushina took up residence in that village and became a kunoichi of Konoha. She later found love with Namikaze Minato, the man who later became known as Yondaime Hokage.

Unfortunately their lives would end when an unforeseen attack by a masked stranger saw to it both would lose their lives in protecting the village and the life of their son…Naruto.

The villagers were told by Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Sandaime, that Yondaime defeated the Kyuubi by imprisoning and sealing it into a newly born child named Uzumaki Naruto. This proved to be a mistake as over the years the villagers the child's life would be a lonesome one.

Life of a pariah.

Of loneliness.

It even came down to the point that even the children of the villagers were influenced by the grown ups' mistreatment of Naruto and joined in adding to Naruto's grief and loneliness.

Six years. Six years in and a choice had been made. Everyone would make a choice and it would lead to another future.

Another possibility.

In another reality Hiruzen would have not said anything, keeping the identity of Naruto's parents a secret.

He could not. The man, known as grandfather showed that it was not merely an informed title and he truly cared about the boy instead of leaving him with false promises and wondering life cluelessly.

It was that day that Naruto learned of where he came from and who he was.

This knowledge would be both valuable and dangerous.

The Hokage made sure to stress to Naruto just how important it was to make sure he could make use of every advantage he could. It didn't matter whether or not anyone knew who his parents were or that he was an Uzumaki. Such a thing was pointless to hide as the entire village knew he was a Jinchuuriki anyway and that in itself was impossible to keep hidden among the civilian population considering how often spies infiltrated shinobi villages and that Naruto's public status as a Jinchuuriki needed to be retained in order to act as a deterrent from other villages who might attack.

That choice gave Naruto a sense of identity and a legacy to uphold. Without such things he would have been childish and desperate for someone to acknowledge his existence. Now he had something to work for.

A little later down the line another choice had been made. Jiraiya of the Sannin visited his godson. What kind of man would he be if he simply abandoned his godson, the only child of his dead student?

While the visits throughout the years would be limited, those visits had a profound effect no one would have expected.

Jiraiya's stories and status gave Naruto a respect for shinobi he would not have had in another life time. It gave him respect for hard work and that one much put effort and could not rely on determination at all.

Leaving behind the gift of knowledge in the form of his parents techniques set Naruto up for success he would have never known for years.

Choices would be continued to be made. Semblance of a family was born when Naruto made Hatake Kakashi.

The man he would call uncle or even brother. No distinction was made. For bonding with the gifted Shinobi gave Naruto the leg work and potential to become one of the most gifted shinobi Konoha would ever come to see. From Kakashi he gained perspectives and knowledge of his parents.

Those. Those who were connected to his parents. Those who saw them as friends. In this lifetime they had a choice and they made it to respect their sacrifice and give Naruto a better life.

Those small choices would of course lead to what was known as the Butterfly effect. The changes would be seen all over the world.

One of those changes was the Sandaime sending a recovery unit to check Uzu no Kuni for any lingering survivors or recover any lost relics despite their likely being nothing after all these years.

This squad would meet with Kazuma setting forth the biggest change of all.

In this story of what could have been.

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Down the streets of Konoha walked a young man. A male with shaggy blond hair that reached his wide shoulders. His build was promising, showing that he was working his way to being muscular. He wore a pair of black of Shinobi modeled pants as well as an orange t-shirt and a black and orange jacket.

The young man was a teenager about the age range of fourteen or fifteen. He was a young man who could be considered handsome thanks to his features.

This young man was making his way through the busy streets of Konohagakure no Sato towards where the academy was. He ignored the way most of the populous sent him weary looks.

He was used to this. Being the scapegoat of their hatred and fear. One day he would show them that their prejudice was unfounded, but for now he would take his journey one step at a time.

Becoming Hokage.

That was his goal. To bring honor to his clan and Uzumaki name and seeking to restore it.

He had finally arrived to his destination, the academy.

It was located just below the administration section of the Hokage Tower and under the Hokage Monument, a somewhat symbolic thing as it was supposed to mean that the Hokage were looking out for the younger generation, who assisted to the Academy in order to prepare themselves to become ninja for the village.

Unfortunately time of peace saw to the effectiveness of the academy wane a great deal. Focusing on the theoretical knowledge of basic subjects like math and history and taught the bear basics of ninja skills. If one wasn't from a clan or blood line they were simply fodder. Sacrifices for the greater good of the village.

Which was why those who didn't already have a name often didn't make name for themselves.

He arrived to his class and gave a quick cursory glance at the attendees. Most of them were going to fail. It was that simple.

That much he had learned from Kazuma. Reading and understanding those around you was one of the most important tools a shinobi could have.

And with that he could already tell who was going to pass.

The first one was Sasuke Uchiha the silent rookie of the year. A boy with black hair in an unfortunate style dressed in all black. He only spoke when necessary and outperformed nearly everyone. There was a coldness to him. The onyx eyed boy, it was hard to tell would he be a friend or foe?

Next were Shikamaru and Chouji. The first being the clan heir to the Nara's. The boy was the epitome of laziness, but there were hints he inherited his father's intellect. The potential for a great strategist was buried under all that laziness.

And there was Chouji. Like his father he also had the potential to be a great shinobi if he didn't have such low self-esteem. The two were childhood friends and nearly inseparable. They were good friends to have, even if Naruto only spent time with them occasionally.

Next was Kiba, the boy in the gray coat and black pants to which Naruto had a rivalry of sorts for the position of Alpha in the class for a while. With him was a puppy, his companion Akamaru. Brash and bold Kiba was a boisterous young man with a lot of spirit. Despite their trash talk and put downs there was a sense of respect among the two. Kiba was Naruto's second closest male friend and the blond could say he was fund of Hana and had much respect for Tsume.

Out of all the potentials or in regards to the male ones Shino was probably the one Naruto hung out with the most. For a quiet and collected individual Shinobi could say a fair bit amount on topics he had knowledge on. He never showed off or made a nuisance of himself. Shino had potential to become something great. As always he was dressed in his long pale olive-grey coat and wore standard shinobi sandals. The only thing that made the youth stand out at an cursory glance was the fact he wore glasses.

Now it was time to move on to the female potentials. His childhood friend Sakura Haruno, one of the brightest of their age. She was the only girl to come from a civilian background and to take her studies seriously, seeing as most of the girls were pining either over him or Sasuke. She was donning an attire consisting of a red top, with black gloves, black, low-heel, calf-high boots, black shorts underneath a short pink apron skirt, and grey elbow protectors.

Their friendship stretched back to about seven years making her the one out of the girls he knew the least, but that did not mean she was not a close friend. This brilliant girl was being apprenticed by Yuuhi Kurenai thanks to her aptitude for Genjutsu.

Sakura was interesting, because of she could be shy and demure one minute then at the drop of a hat loud and feisty. And try as he might he couldn't help but notice her features such as her prominent hips and ass making up for her small bust, a side effect of the biggest influences on his life being massive perverts.

The second of the girls were Ino Yamanaka. The one he knew the longest. The platinum blonde haired girl whose front half of her long ponytail was styled with the front bang hanging over the left side of her face was a clan heiress of the Yamankas, a clan famed for their mind walking and interrogation techniques. Having the most lovely set up blue eyes Ino's figure was a bit more balanced in curves not to mention she was taller than most girls her age.

Her outfit consisted of a short, purple, sleeveless blouse, an open-front purple apron skirt over a shorter black skirt, with short fishnet shorts underneath.

Ino's outgoing personality simply mashed well with the blond's own personality. Like each of his friends Ino's friendship played an influence on the blond. Helping him be more socialable and aware of social cues. Just as Sakura helped him with his work ethic and so on.

The final one was the lavender eyes dark haired beauty Hinata Hyuuga whose destiny was influenced the biggest by these choices. What could have been was not a shy and meek girl.

The action of saving her from bullies was the same, but the outcome that changed was befriending her. And as he learned social skills he was able to help her get the confidence skills she would have lacked later in life.

Hands down Hinata was the most developed of the girls, nearing hourglass figure which she happily showed considering her outfit consisted of an lavender top with the top two buttons undone to show she was wearing a mesh bra which did little to hide the size of her large chest and taught stomach and a pair of blue pants while not skin tight showed off the amazing booty of the indigo haired girl.

Naruto took his usual seat meaning that Ino was on his left, Hinata is right, and Sakura was in front. "Morning girls."

"Morning Naruto-kun." They all chimed, Hinata faintly blushing while doing so. Naruto's influence in the life of Sakura and Ino had showed them both they wanted someone warm and loving as their other halves, slowly waning away the torch they had for Sasuke.

The friendship that would have been lost had been repaired as time passed leading to the two of them to focus on their careers.

In Hinata's case this was a change not to come to past, her feelings for the blond thanks to his constant support only fanned the burning flames of her passion for him even more.

In this case…the case of Naruto not being a failure he would pass the academy test.

The fabled theft of the scroll that was the integral part of so many histories would not come to pass.

So that left but only question.

From this point on how would the story that once was play out?

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Chapter End

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So I am going with some changes. No need to keep certain dynamics or reasoning because in canon they were never used to their full potential.

Others such as Naruto's friendships playing a key role in him becoming a well-rounded character and that this Naruto had steps and pushes into developing into a much stronger character and not full blown, he's Kage level off screen on his own somehow.

This is a Naruto who has had help from the shinobi populous, mainly those who were supposed to help him and be there for him in the first place.

Meaning he isn't just that Kyuubi kid to a lot of the shinobi clans, but he still someone that much of the civilian and some of the shinobi populous are weary of.

He's more sensible and intelligent than canon Naruto, but he still wishes to be Hokage to honor his clan and to protect those precious to him instead of doing it for acknowledgement.

He still spent his first few years alone so he still knows that loneliness and pain, but the fact that those precious to him found their way to him so much earlier he truly appreciates these bonds in a whole new way.

All and All I hope you guys are going to enjoy this as for a long time I focused on crossovers and neglected my pure Naruto stories.


	2. Expectations of Team Seven!

Another Choice

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Naruto x ?

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Author's Note

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Due to the FFN admin crackdown on my fics I had to delete and edited a lot of my content. For the unrated version of these stories and the missing stories go to AO3 or Archive of My Own to find my content. That is where you will find it. For why my chapters were taken down and reuploaded, that's just me trying to quickly export and reupload the fixed chapters. I am not losing my account so no complaining or crying about what is going on. I had to go through chapter by chapter and make sure there was no content that would get me flagged or deleted.

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Story Start

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Kakashi's first impressions of his new team were they were going to need a lot of work. Attitude and mentality wise Naruto was fine.

Sakura was sort of a grey area. She didn't have a drive like the other students in the academy, especially her two team mates, but on the other hand she had some measure of talent, but she still had a long way to go.

Sasuke would be the most problematic because of his mental issues and anti-social behavior. He had all the makings of a gifted shinobi when it came to technique, but his behavior made him one he would need to keep an eye on.

Kakashi gave his new team an eye smile. They were all pleased that they had passed the test. But it was no time to celebrate, their training was to begin.

"Congratulations you are all shinobi ready to take missions on behalf of the village." He allowed them to bask in their satisfaction for a bit and then continued. "Starting tomorrow you will be given a "D" ranked mission. It might mean walking dogs, pulling weeds, baby sitting or other such jobs."

Sasuke only allowed a minor expression formed on his face, but it was obvious he was livid. Walking dogs? Pulling weeds? How would this help him grow stronger? This would be an utter waste of time.

Sakura wore an expression that she was confused, but did not argue. She was respectful and an astute young lady.

Naruto let out a small sigh, he knew about the procedure of D-rank missions. For years the majority of his training was mental. Instead of spending all the time learning cool explosive jutsu, the focus for the majority of his training had been mental. Politics. Money. Geography. Seals. Psychology. While it wasn't unheard of for an extremely powerful young prodigy to be born, Hiruzen and the others decided it was better to focus on nurturing Naruto's intellect and mental health over just making him an extremely powerful, but immature ticking time bomb.

"Kakashi-sensei, how long would you personally having us stuck with those rank of missions? I only ask because of my curiosity." The blond mentally congratulated himself on keeping in control of his impulse to verbally react how much of a waste of time D-rank missions were.

He knew just how serious Kakashi could be. In fact first hand he saw just how insubordinate shinobi could be disciplined.

 _It was a few years ago as Kazuma-oji took him with him for a trip out of town. They had visited Suna and were witnessing a Jounin training his students. One genin was being insubordinate and dismissing his sensei's order to focus on Genjutsu because he thought it was useless._

 _Naruto's eyes widened in surprise when the fist collided with the genin's gut and he doubled over._

 _"You do not presume to make demands of me genin. We are shinobi. I am your Jounin-sensei, I out rank you. You a mere Genin need to remember your place and follow the orders of those who outrank you."_

 _"You see that Naruto." The elder Uzumaki remarked as he saw the blond's expression. "You thought I was harsh when I was curbing your attitude with my cane, but that right there is the kind of discipline you can expect from a strict shinobi superior. Especially those who have been through war. They will not stand for disrespect and correct your behavior. Being a shinobi isn't about flashy jutsu or being in the spotlight. I know you desire to become Hokage, but a Hokage is more than just boasts and strength. The Hokage must also have a strong mind and the right political ties. You keep on the way you're going with building strong political ties with your classmates you will build up your resume. You must also keep in mind to try and build up potential ties whenever you are on a mission as well. There will be a time to express yourself with passion, but also a time to keep yourself in control."_

"It will be dependent on the three of you. Once I am satisfied that all three of you are sufficiently trained up to the same efficient level capable of handling C ranks will you no longer have to worry about D-rank missions."

Sasuke grimaced. He couldn't do real missions until Uzumaki and Haruno were equal to his level? This would interfere with his development. Learning that Kakashi of a thousand techniques was his sensei had pleased him.

Kakashi was one of the youngest progressed Shinobi of his generation if not Konoha history. Not even Itachi had progressed as quickly as Kakashi during his initial years. His completion rate of A ranked missions was also one of the highest known and he was still young enough to have a long career for years to come.

Few shinobi in Konoha not counting the Sannin or Hokage were in Kakashi's league. Someone like him could surely bring Sasuke up to the level he needed to fight 'that man' but now the time it would take could not be estimated.

Kakashi took notice of Sasuke's body language. "Is there a problem Uchiha-san?"

Sasuke's glare did not lessen as he answered. "While I will follow your orders sensei this is a waste of my time having to wait until those two catch up to my level."

"You arrogant…" Quickly angered, Naruto was about to shoot off, only stopped when Sakura grabbed his wrist and shook her head no.

Naruto was quick to release his anger. He cursed himself for losing control like that. Being underestimated or dismissed was still a sore subject for him. It made him feel embarrassed and unworthy. That he wasn't trying hard enough or making enough progress to bring prestige to the Uzumaki name.

The combination of factors that contributed to his life and the knowledge of his parents sacrifice and hopes for him influences so much of Naruto's mindset. He just had to succeed. He just had to.

Sakura couldn't help but be wounded by Sasuke's comment. Even if Sakura's affection towards him had waned it didn't change the fact he was her first crush. The fact he dismissed her so casually also bothered her, because Sakura knew that being from a civilian family she was already looked down upon by shinobi who were from clans. They were expecting her to fail or be a burden on her team.

Kakashi chuckled. "You seem so certain of that Uchiha-san, but seeing as you have no knowledge of your team mates outside of the academy, how can you be so certain what they have shown in the academy the true level of their skill? The prideful and foolish strut about with their abilities exposed to the world and that pride gets one killed. The point still stands until all three of you are an efficient level we will not be doing anything above d-rank missions."

Sasuke narrowed his eyes, "I could get further on my own! Why waste my time training them?" Sasuke just could not comprehend wasting efforts on those he deemed as losers.

The wrong thing to say as Kakashi's expression sharpened and his fury manifested in the form of killer intent.

Naruto went rigid. He was all too familiar with this sensation. The fear. The dread that came when facing an opponent with killing intent. The humiliation of the incident came to the mind of the memory of one of 'Kazuma's training exercises' he called. Two things contributed to the Uzumakis demise all those years ago. Lack of support from their allies and being too prideful in their blood line and abilities. As a result issues of pride were something Naruto was intent on not succumbing to.

Able to shake it off Naruto realized Sakura was frozen stiff in terror. Naruto was quick to grab her by the shoulders and call out to her, in an attempt to calm her down.

"You arrogant fool. This is a team. The difference between survival and death relies on the effectiveness of the team. The level of missions you do as well as its success depends on the effectiveness of the individual's ability to work together. Either by boosting each other strengths or covering each other's weaknesses. Consider yourself lucky that the only reason why I don't kick your ass back to the academy is because it would unfairly punish your teammates by making them have to wait an undetermined amount of time for a suitable replacement." That and most likely a huge stink would be raised about it by the councils. The loss of the Uchiha clan years ago has been rather catastrophic in forms of both their security and their military power. The substandard graduation requirements that followed it in order to beef up their numbers and cover this loss of power resulted in an even higher failure rate from the graduation as well as cutting in the time of proficient Jounin had for higher ranked missions as he additional time they had to play catch up with their Genin resulted in situations such as this.

Time being spent correcting the behaviors that should have been trained out of them instead of devoting it into helping them decide their craft or specialty resulting in their Shinobi not pursuing such serious training methods until they were at least Chunin.

Kakashi shuttered to think how bad the situation would be if Naruto had been left to his own devices and if his friendship with Sakura didn't change the girl.

Naruto still needed to improve his Taijutsu. It was also time to up his weights from 50kg. Not that they were around the time where graduates bodies were developing they could began physical conditioning without fears of damaging their bodies.

It was a shame that some villages adopted the ideal that simply tossing in as much training as possible could fix what was wrong with training a child heavily from the moment they could walk. The long term damage done to the organs and tissue from overexertion or impractical training techniques could lead to early deaths, sometimes in their thirties or forties or an imparity to occur during combat and causing the loss of that shinobi's life.

Thinking about what else Naruto could need help in he decided to increase how many jutsu the blond knew. Since he spent a good deal of time with Sakura and Sakura not only had potential in Genjutsu, but also received tutoring from Kurenai he was sure the simply suggestion of working on their weaknesses would solve that potential issue.

Sasuke's issues were more attitude base. So teamwork exercises and mental conditioning as well as bribery should do the work. If worse comes to worse Sasuke would request he either attended mandatory counseling or be removed from the program. Seeing as Kakashi himself was the only shinobi that could actually train Sasuke to his full potential there was no worry about him being a flight risk on another team.

Sakura had a lot of potential. Her chakra control was on a level not seen in the village for decades. She was also bright too and her academic skills were off the charts. The girl also had a talent for Genjutsu, but she would need major improvements in her Taijutsu and Ninjutsu as well. She had all the makings of an excellent support type.

"I wish to make something loud and clear to you three. I am not like most jounin in this village. I will not humor your delusions or coddle you. The moment you accept those hiate-tie you became shinobi. So get all delusions of grandeur out of your heads right now. We are both the blades that cut down our enemies and the shield that protects this village. I expect you three to follow my letters to the tee. I will not accept insubordination or disrespect. You are now a part of Konoha military force and what you say or do reflects on all of Konoha. What you show to the world no matter how small can have consequences that can carry on for years to come. I trust there will be no issues and you all will act in accordance to what it means to be a Konoha shinobi. Is that clear?"

All three genin hastily responded with "Hai sensei."

Kakashi nodded firmly.

"Tomorrow we will begin by doing a few rank "D" missions followed by training. Until then you are dismissed."

With that Kakashi disappeared in a swirl of leaves. Without a word to his team mates Sasuke already left. For someone stubborn like him it would take more than words.

Helping Sakura to his feet Naruto led the girl back in town. By the time they had arrived she had managed to calm down. Waiting for them was Shino.

"Haruno-san. Naruto-san." He greeted them, having already ordered a bowl of vegetable style soup.

"Aburame-san." Sakura greeted him politely. What little of Shino she knew was through Naruto. He was quiet and smart and was from the Aburame clan who used creatures known as Kikaichu. They were one of Konohas four great clans.

"Hey Shino, how'd the team bonding exercising go?"

"Satisfactory. Our team passed." He answered as Naruto was greeted by the daughter of the owner.

Ayame Ichiraku, a civilian girl, remarkably pretty with chocolate brown hair. She was dressed as a cook, chef's hat and apron showing she was on duty. A part time worker at her dad's stand she was saving up money for her education. Naruto and Ayame chatted for a bit, the latter congratulating him as he and Sakura placed in their orders.

The Ichiraku were one of the few civilians who Naruto found approachable. They didn't ignore him nor were they weary of him so nearly every other day he would come to their stand for lunch. This had the unfortunate effect of a stigma being placed on the stand meaning the diversity of their customers were low for their kind of business. It was thanks to Naruto's vast weekly patronage that they were still even running let alone being able to pay the bills.

"So what did you guys have to do for the exam? Sakura-chan, the Uchiha, and I had to do the bell test making sure we got the hidden meaning of needing to work as a team to pass." He explained as they waited for their order.

"Our test was suited towards our clan abilities. We needed to track our sensei and dispel her jutsu. Hinata-san was instrumental in the second part."

Sakura couldn't help but quirk her lips slightly. Even the way Shino ate his food was so precise and quiet.

"What about Kiba?" he asked, despite having an idea on what Shino's response would be.

"He is a character. Loud. Brash. Headstrong. He has the makings of a combat type without any of the discipline and patience. Hopefully sensei will drill into his head that the kind of behavior he displays can get others killed." Shino finished his meal. "I cannot stay Naruto-san. My father has expressed an interest in celebrating my graduation with expanding my colony with a fresh new hive. As you can see I am quite excited." He finished not changing tones or expressions in the slightest.

Naruto began laughing pretty hard at that as Sakura looked between the two, quiet confused. "Only you Shino. See you later." He said as Shinobi nodded and acknowledge Sakura with a goodbye before he left. "What?" Naruto asked as he noticed Sakura was staring at him.

"Don't you 'what' me. What was that about?" she asked, wondering if Naruto had temporarily lost his mind.

"That was just classic Shino. He has a great sense of humor and he was poking fun at himself. How did you not get it?" he asked as Sakura groaned and began massaging her forehead.

She really needed saner friends besides Hinata.

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Chapter End

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This start is going to focus a fair bit of time on the team, training, and establishing their background so hope you guys are patient. XD

And as you can see, surprise surprise I am playing things straight and no bashing unlike 95% of fics nowadays.

Also there is no Clan restoration act. Quite honestly the concept and overuse is retarded, but a similar ideal or practice will be in the story as part of the history or world building that help explains why their are massive blood line clans and why such divisions as the Main/Cadet branch of the Hyuugas being a thing and how the ideal is handled in each of the different villages.


	3. The First Steps of Their Development!

Another Choice

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Naruto x ?

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Story Start

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The D ranked mission of the day was pulling up weeds and cleaning up around a field. The field in question was a massive farmland that contributed to a good portion of produce in the village as well as land use for flowers. A good deal of the land was owned by Inochi, head of the Yamanka clan and his wife, the owners of Konoha's premier floral shop.

Not only were the flowers used for decoration, the majority of them were actually used for more practical things like poisons or ingredients in antidotes for said poisons. A smaller portion of the land was also used for various herbs that had a longer turn out rate than the plants.

This mission was one that popped up only once a week and was considered the most challenging of the D-rank missions because of how vast the land was. The average genin team would take the entire day to complete it which considering the pay wasn't bad, but that also meant the number of ranked missions under the belt would lessen on average by taking this mission.

With Naruto's use of Kagebunshin they would actually be able to finish it in a couple of hours. Sasuke focused wholly on the task ignored Naruto and Sakura who were chatting to pass the time. "So you still haven't settled on your specialty Sakura-chan?"

The cherry blossomed haired girl shook her head. "No, as much as I've been enjoying learning the ins and outs of Genjutsu I have yet to experience that flair some people experience when they discover a talent they're truly good in. On the other hand with the way you go on about Fuiinjutsu you probably ruined the experience for me." She dryly remarked as Naruto sheepishly rubbed the back of his head.

"Hey now, I can't help it. If you read all the crazy stuff that I have about what it can do you would get lost in it too. That'll be my claim to fame Sakura-chan. The Kage seal master. I'd be the scourged of the enemy. Men would want to be me and the ladies will swoon." He finished with a grin that didn't stay long with Sakura gave him a firm bop to the back of his head. "Ow. What was that for?"

"Don't ruin the moment baka." Despite the tone used Sakura she actually wasn't angry at him, just a little annoyed. She just hated the thought of one of her oldest friends changing and becoming something unrecognizable. Especially with what he would have to one day do to restore his clan.

"Right, right, just don't beat me anymore." He pleaded to which Sakura rolled her eyes. With the mission done earlier than expected it was time to begin training.

First was a spar between Sasuke and Sakura.

Naruto was to stay on the sidelines and watch. The spar was to be pure Taijutsu, no nin, gen or weapons were allowed. Also no breaking of bones or going for vital organs.

"Begin." Once Kakashi had said the word Sasuke sought forward.

Sakura immediately went on the defense. Sasuke was much faster and stronger than her. In a straight out fight there was no way she could win, especially since Genjutsu was forbidden.

She had managed to jump back, narrowly missing the blow to her face. A solid strike to the head could cause disorientation or other such ailments such as a fractured cranium or brain leakage if the blow was strong enough.

His fist had skimmed past her. Sakura let out a startled cry, stumbling back as Sasuke had flipped over her and landed a kick to Sakura's back sending her crashing forward.

Naruto felt a surge of protectiveness coursed through him. "Sakura-ch…" He was rooted in place when a firm hand placed itself on its shoulder.

"Don't move!" Kakashi ordered the blond who simply gritted his teeth but complied. He could see the blond brewing with anger.

Naruto's mental conditioning was far from perfect, but then again it was expected the son of someone as wily and spirited as Kushina. Nothing short of Danzo's practices could completely erase the blond's spirited nature. On one hand it was a shining example of comradery. That Naruto truly cared about his team mates and was capable of forming powerful and personal bonds with others. Something extremely rare for Jinchuuriki outside their family members, on the other hand this was also rather dangerous.

His emotions could be used against him. His feelings for Sakura could be used to compromise the mission or take away his focus. The easiest would be to separate them into two separate teams, but a pain in the ass that would be in terms of the plan he was already forming for this team. The other would be to caution the blond on letting his feelings compromise the mission.

It was not unheard of for viable assets to have conditions set on them if they wished to continue their shinobi career and with Naruto carrying both the Kyuubi and being one of the last known Uzumaki he was simply too valuable to be left to his own devices or to suffer from ill-advised training.

Then again Kazuma had mentioned he was guiding the blond in the ways of romance. For shinobi, especially those who took on high ranked missions from the village with a long staying time having a few lovers were not unheard of, especially around the nation. It was a form of stress relief for those who found themselves dealing with the darker side of things like the ANBU.

With Naruto's high metabolism and regeneration factor it was almost expected for him to gorge on meals or have his pick of a few civilian girls to help satisfy his necessary needs so he would be stable.

As a shinobi having a few lovers outside of the village was a commonly known matter not talked about it was a matter almost accepted as Kunoichi having to use their sex appeal for assassinations or information gathering.

Male. Female. Certain labels were to be expected and while people had an idea of what was to be, it did not mean the opposite was a myth. A male ninja could just as easily seduce and gain information through such tactics as a kunoichi can have multiple lovers. It was just society's expectations on certain roles why there were expectations for certain groups.

Though that was a whole other matter in itself.

Meanwhile the spar between Sasuke and Sakura drew to a close. The moment Sakura tried to make any effort to fight back a fist drove itself in her stomach causing her to double over clutching her stomach.

"The match is over!" Kakashi called, letting go of Naruto who rushed over to help Sakura up. _'I suppose this was a bit too early._ ' He thought noticing the look in Naruto's eyes putting any plans of Naruto and Sasuke sparring on the back burner. "Sasuke-san, can you tell me why Sakura-san lost this match?"

"Because she is weak."

Kakashi was finding it harder and harder not to question the wisdom of the council and the Hokage. He supposed the good he did for Naruto had allowed him to rationalize the issues and errors with Sasuke and even worse the academy standards.

"Sakura, you have fifteen minutes to recover your bearings and then you'll spar with Naruto."

Naruto though was not receptive to this idea. "Kakashi-sensei there's no way I can fight…"

"I'm….fine." Sakura grounded out as she moved from Naruto. Sasuke's little comment had stung her pride and she wanted nothing more than prove him wrong. _'And to think Ino and I used to have a crush on him. Oh he's so handsome and mysterious. Bah. Bakas the lot of us.'_ She thought as she turned her head to look at Naruto. He really didn't want to fight her, which was clear by his expression, but he had to. "Naruto, don't coddle me."

She had to fight. He was the one who encouraged her to continue being a Kunoichi after Sasuke's harsh rejection all those years ago. She couldn't remain weak.

Once the break was over the reluctant Naruto and Sakura got out onto the meadow.

"Begin!" Kakashi ordered. What happened with Sasuke wasn't a spar. He attacked her with the intent to defeat her as quickly as possible, whereas Naruto seemed to be waiting for her to make the first move.

"Naruto-kun, if you ever had any respect for me at all you'll fight me." Sakura jeered at him. For a moment the blond hesitated for a little while before giving in and going on the attack.

Naruto charged forth and Sakura barely threw up her arm in time to block. Her blond companion was much faster than Sasuke, but she was familiar with his movements. She winched thanks to the pain in her abdomen and was knocked over for her trouble.

She rolled from the follow up attack and attempted to knock him off his feet with a sweep kick to which he easily jumped to avoid.

Sakura scrambled to her feet and narrowly avoided a blow to her head as Naruto launched a series of high kicks to which forced Sakura back closer and closer to the edge of the lake they were at.

Sakura ducked under one of the kicks and attempted to strike his midsection only for the blond to grab her wrist and yanked her forward. The next thing Sakura knew Naruto's leg shot forward, his right foot slamming against the inner portion of her still rooted foot and she was sent flying a few feet, landing on her front.

She was then pinned down to the ground as Naruto rested his knee on her back.

"This match is over." Kakashi called as Naruto got off and helped Sakura to her feet. "Naruto, do you know why Sakura lost?"

"She isn't physically capable of keeping up with me in any category. The pain from Sasuke's attack earlier drew away her attention and that showed in her weak stance. Without a strong stance I was able to easily break her foot."

"What else?"

"Her attempt to knock me off my feet was weak. She also left the top portion of her body exposed, an enemy would have immediately capitalized with a weapon or jutsu."

Sakura's eyes widened. Was this….was this really Naruto? The only time she seemed him so focus was when he was working on Fuiinjutsu and even then he was just ramble. But the blond before her sound so professional and cold. Sakura knew the blond had some relation to their Jounin-sensei as he had mentioned how excited he was to be his student when they were waiting for the man to pick them up, but until now Sakura didn't have an idea of how much that was until now.

"I was easily able to bait her with a transparent attack strategy allowing me to lull her into my attack and make her vulnerable. On your back you still have the capacity to estimate or counter your enemies attacks as you have a visual. Once placed on your stomach your overall combat readiness and effectiveness is cut by sixty-six percent. Then again that statistic is for common shinobi and an estimate for shinobi with specialized seduction training or Kekki Genkai has no value to them because of how varied people are as well as blood lines. If I had wanted to rape or kill her there was effectively little she could have done."

Sakura's blood had chilled at that statement. It was the reality of a shinobi and it hadn't truly finally sunk in until now. If this had been out on the field then…

"Excellent. The ability to analyze a situation is an important part of being a shinobi." He turned to Sasuke.

"Now Sasuke-san, can you tell me the mistakes Sakura-san made during your fight?" The scowl on the Uchiha's face had an obvious answer to it. He didn't like being shown up. He had issues with pride. This was going to be an issue.

"This is an important exercise to go through Sasuke. For you especially. Analyzing an enemy's jutsu, technique, body movement, and style means the difference between life and death. When you unlock the Sharingan you will gain an ability to see and analyze on a deeper level than most shinobi sort of experienced veterans trained in the art of body and technique reading could hope to achieve." It was almost certain the boy would unlock his Sharingan. Now whether he lived long afterword was another story in itself. His words seemed to placate the boy for the time being. Getting him to bond with his team mates was going to be an arduous process.

The next phase of their training was now that of chakra control exercises. Bringing the trio to a tree he began explaining the tree walking exercise.

"The key is to form chakra at your feet to stick to the surface. Too little chakra and you fall off, too much chakra and the bark will explode beneath you, I suggest getting a running start. Mark your progress with a kunai. Naruto since you have already mastered this exercise create thirty clones and have them go up and down the trees until they dispelled."

Naruto nodded and complied.

 _'Uzumaki has already done this?'_ This sparked Sasuke's determination. If Naruto could do this then so could he. Anything to get the power he desired. He was four steps up when the bark exploded underneath the soles of Sasuke's feet but not Sakura's. Sakura actually made it all the way up the tree!

Sasuke glared at Sakura; how the hell had she mastered this technique first?

Uzumaki in the academy at best was an average student who had a ton of chakra. What little that was covered about the Uzumaki was noted that they had a lot of chakra so Naruto's success while annoyed him didn't hit as hard as Sakura's who he still saw as one of his fan girls who had spent years pursuing him instead of worrying about being better shinobi.

"Why does your teammate's success anger you so Sasuke-san?" There was that dangerous edge to the Jounin's voice.

Sasuke was unable to come up with an answer. He kept coming back to the idea that Sakura was weak.

"I asked you a question _boy._ I expect an answer." Sasuke didn't have much people in his life after the massacre. He had been essentially left alone to his own devices with an agent of the village checking up on him once a week that handled such matters.

The matter of clan and shinobi laws were always a bit muddled since situation like Sasuke's rarely happened if at all. The boy was used to depending on no one but himself and that led to the behavior he was seeing now. A boy without a guardian or adult to instill a sense of boundaries and etiquette in him, or at least a sensible one. Considering the incident with Mizuki, Kakashi's opinion of those at the academy was an all-time low for not picking up on the fact that their coworker was a traitor.

"Because I should be the one succeeding not her. I have been the one busting my ass off to grow stronger. Dedicating nearly every moment to my taijutsu form or improving my ninjutsu. I need to get stronger and it infuriates me that some silly girl who has put more time into her hair than her ninjutsu is beating me."

"You are a fool Sasuke-san." Kakashi called him causing the Uchiha to tremble in anger. "Have you forgotten there are shinobi specialist in nearly every village? Of the different forms of jutsu and legends out there? No one Nin can be the best of all of them. Instead of thinking ill of your teammates gain you should be thinking well of them and celebrating their accomplishments. A strong teammate means a greater chance of survival.

I understand the incident has left you with many emotional and mental scars Sasuke-san, but its time you learn just because your name ends with Uchiha doesn't mean the world is going to bend itself over backward to accommodate you or forgive your sins. That's not how the world works in any sensible faction. I assure you Sasuke unless you straighten out that attitude of yours you can forget the benefits of my teachings."

Sasuke wanted nothing more than to scream out in frustration and to say to hell with the man, but everything he knew about any other specialists he heard about in passing none of them suited his needs. He did not need a Genjutsu instructor as his Sharingan would take care of it and from what he heard Konoha's Taijutsu and Kenjutsu specialists refused to take on any students who weren't willing to dedicate their lives to the art and adhering to their codes.

 _'I…I have to kill that man. He has to pay and I'll do anything to see it happened.'_ Sasuke had no choice but to swallow his pride and put in effort if he wanted to get anywhere. Anti-social behavior aside that did not mean Sasuke was an idiot. He was Rookie of the Year for a reason and it was obvious that Naruto and Kakashi knew each other to some degree.

Naruto's trust in the man as well as Kakashi expressing not once, but twice of having a vague understanding of Naruto's abilities allowed Sasuke to come to the conclusion that Kakashi not only trained the blond to some degree, but cautioned him not to show off his true skill. "Kakashi-sensei I will work on the issue of working with my team mates."

Kakashi couldn't help but be a bit surprised. It was something. Better than nothing he supposed. He turned his attention back to Sakura. "You have a long way to go Sakura-san. Your reserves are much lower than what is expected of even an academy student. Every day you will dedicate at least an hour's time to going up and down the tree building your reserves. The only reason why you were able to scale the tree so easily is because you lack the much higher reserves of our colleagues."

"Hai sensei." Sakura was unable to hide her disappointed frown. So much for feeling good about herself. Her weakness was the reason why this exercise was so easy for her. Well, she was going to make sure she grew as strong as possible.

"Do not fret Sakura-san, as long as you keep your superb control while building your reserves then your current capacity has a chance of becoming your ultimate weapon."

'Ultimate weapon?' she thought. "Like using Genjutsu sensei?"

"Yes. But do not limit yourself to only Genjutsu. Assassination. Becoming a medical-nin. Even Fuuinjutsu. There are other possibilities for you."

The rest of the day was spent on him instructing Sasuke and Sakura in the exercise while seeing Naruto's progress in his taijutsu. His plan was to help Naruto find a style better suited than the standard ones thought in Konoha. Far too many enemies were accustomed to many of the styles used in the village as a result of several of their shinobi going for a flashy battle instead of a clear shot and quick kill. Only to learn Naruto was learning two, one from Anko Mitarashi and a chunin by the name of Kojiro who was an orphan.

The Kojiro was a no name and there wasn't a shinobi in Konoha who hadn't heard rumors about the former apprentice of one of Konoha's most notorious traitors. Kakashi himself only met with Anko mostly in official capacity or heard stories about her from Naruto. Apparently the two of them had some sort of odd friendship going on, but to be fair, if there was a shinobi in the village he would say had a fair shot in challenging him it would be Anko.

Kakash had to admit he was looking forward to see the benefit of whatever Naruto would be learning from the woman. Once more Kakashi dismissed the team. Sasuke was the first to immediately leave, but not before pausing, sighing, and muttering out a 'later' before continuing on. It was progress.

Naruto didn't know all the details, but he knew enough. He knew Sasuke's entire clan was massacred. He knew the boy had been tortured as well. And Naruto had earnestly tried to make an effort to make friends with the boy, but his own pride had stopped him. By the time it was an option again it was far too late.

Sasuke was no longer approachable. He was cold. Bitter. Angry. He was determined to kill 'that man' as he had said during their introductions.

It really sucked. Any given time Naruto flipped between wanting to kick his ass or feeling sorry for him and in some capacity relate to what it felt like being looked at like some spectacle or having people being cautious of you. While a lot of the younger generation, particularly the girls at the academy loved Sasuke, there were those who either wanted to use Sasuke for his family name or were weary of him.

"Naruto-kun." The sound of Sakura's sweet voice dragged him out of his thoughts.

"Aah. Sakura-chan, sorry, got lost in my thoughts." He apologized. "Are you okay?" he asked as the pinkette nodded.

"I'm fine it was just my ego. And my stomach. And my back." Her attempt at a joke brought a smile to his face. "I knew…I mean I had a feeling you were stronger or I should say more skilled then you showed Naruto-kun, but I had no idea until now. How come you never showed me before?" She was honestly curious. She began to wonder just how strong the blond was.

"Well, I didn't want to brag." He suggested as Sakura quirked a disbelieving eyebrow at him. "Okay total lie, but I was told to becareful of how much I expose myself. I am an Uzumaki. Until I am strong enough I can't go exposing myself to everyone. Even in the fun wa…" He let out an oof as Sakura jabbed him in the gut. "Uugh Sakura-chan why?" He cried out, his expression a look of betrayal.

"Oh shut up I hardly put any force in that." She said with a roll of her eyes. She had grown aware some time ago Naruto played up how much her little taps on him hurt. Didn't mean she was going to stop. Someone had to keep the baka in line after all.

"Will you be okay to walk or do you want me to carry you?" He suddenly asked out of the blue.

"W-What?" Sakura's cheeks colored pink as she thought of Naruto carrying her. "N-Naruto-kun I am fine. Stop being a baka. J-Just walk me home okay." She stammered as she tried to push the image out of her mind.

Naruto saluted. "Yes mam!"

By the time they reached Sakura's home it was early in the evening. Answering the door was Sakura's mom, Mebuki Haruno fair-skinned woman with shoulder-length, blonde hair with a single bang which fell down into her face. She also had green eyes and was wearing a white qipao dress with three red circular designs at the bottom of the front of her dress as well as the back. Underneath the dress, she wore pink ¾-length pants along with brown sandals.

Mebuki greeted her daughter before turning to her friend. "Why hello Naruto-kun will you be joining us for dinner?" she asked the boy. Mebuki had been rather neutral on the whole situation with Naruto until the day her daughter introduced her to the boy and told her how he was her new friend and how he saved her from some bullies. Mebuki's opinion had turned positive seeing how her shy and rather withdrawn daughter seemed to express herself whenever the blond was around.

"If its not too much trouble." The blond replied as Mebuki invited him in. Now if only her daughter would get the leg out and snatched that boy up before her shy friend or that Ino girl made her move he'd be such a nice addition to her family.

Oh well, a person could dream.


	4. Enter Yamanka Ino!

Another Choice

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Naruto x ?

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Story Start

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Naruto made his way into the floral shop. He was greeted by none other than Ino. "'Hey there Whiskers!" Ino called out excitedly before she jumped at him and wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing her chest into his as she kissed as she shot him a flirtatious smile. "Sakura told me about the meal you had after your team meeting. How come you didn't invite me too?" she asked, putting on her best pout.

"Ino-chan, cut it out." He stammered. For whatever reason Ino really liked to tease the blond and with her figure it was easy to. Platinum blonde with gorgeous blue eyes. Ino had the most balanced figure between the girls. Whereas Hinata was top heavy and nearly Sakura's bottom heavy equal, but in Ino's case she had a nice balance to her figure not to mention being the tallest of the girls with amazing legs.

If she wanted to Ino could have a fairly successful career as a seduction type shinobi.

Ino couldn't help but relish the look on her friend's face. He was just so fun to tease. Out of the three of girls Ino was the most outgoing. She was not afraid of going for what she wanted. Unlike Hinata who was shy with her affection with the blond and Sakura who was in denial, Ino had a fairly good understanding the potential of her friendship with Naruto becoming something more. She had hoped by now the hints she dropped would have spurred him into action by now.

Oh well. While she normally wasn't patient this was something she could wait for. "My shift's over for the day and I don't have to meet my team. We should go hang out or something."

"Actually, that's not a bad idea." Hanging out with Ino seemed like a good way to spend his day.

"Just let me go get my things and close down the shop." She said as she left to grab her bag. "Feel free to make yourself at home til then."

Naruto nodded and crossed through Ino's living room and kitchen until he reached the backyard. The backyard was wide and in a square fashion. It was limited by high bushes that were neatly kept in check and had many flowers on their surfaces. Lush grass covered its entire surface and there were some rocks here and there. The backyard on itself was very beautiful.

Naruto fancied himself something of a gardener. In fact his hobby of watering plants and growing them was because of his friendship with Ino.

A few minutes passed as Ino trailed down the steps. "Ready." She cheerily called out. She had changed her outfit, putting on a white sleeveless top and exchanging her purple skirt with a red one that ran a slit down up to below her thigh.

He felt a little under-dressed, being in just a black shirt and his usual orange/black pants.

The two of them went for a walk around the town. Because of Konoha's size it was already nightfall by the time they were along one of the trails.

Looking up, they were treated to the beautiful night sky.

"So how's your team been?" Naruto asked.

"Oh, horrible. Just dreadful, really," she joked, eliciting a laugh from the blond boy. "But in all honesty, it could have been a lot worse. I've known Shikamaru and Chouji for so long their habits don't surprise me, but if they don't shape up we're going to be in a lot of trouble later down the line." Ever since Sakura had started exploring her Genjutsu talent Ino had been motivated to improve herself as well. So she had taken to learning about using different kinds of poison and how to incorporate it into her fighting style.

"How about you? How's your team?"

"Working with Sakura-chan has been great. The Uchiha on the other hand." He trailed off, not wanting to sour the mood by thinking about what happened.

Ino frowned slightly, "Sakura told me what happened. I just don't understand how anyone could be like that. Look, I admit I'm one of the last people who should be commenting on the matter considering how I used to hound him, but there was no reason for him to be that way. Especially towards people who were at least trying to be friendly with him."

"He's gone through a traumatic event in the world of shinobi without the proper training or mindset Ino-chan. He was seven years old and the fact he hasn't been consistently monitored or in therapy has probably made it where its going to be difficult to break his shell."

"You're not defending that jerk are you?" Ino accused him, arms crossed as her look conveyed exactly how she felt of the situation.

"Of course not, I want to give him a nice hard slug myself, but like it or not he's my teammate. I might have to depend on him one day and antagonizing him would only hurt my team dynamic. Letting my emotions set the pace will only lead to trouble. While I feel completely killing your emotions like some shinobi tout is actually a weakness not a strength, I can at least understand the wisdom of self-control you know." He said as Ino stared at him for a few seconds before slugging him in the forehead with the palm of her head. "Hey! W-What was that for?"

"I hate when you go into super freaky genius mode. You're supposed to be going on about ramen and being easy going." She stated as Naruto chuckled.

"Oi, I'm still me Ino-chan. Being smarter hasn't changed who I am, my beliefs, or my dreams. I just put a bit more thought into what I do and say is all." He explained as Ino seemed to contemplate his words.

"Well, I suppose if you were an idiot you wouldn't be good boyfriend material." She said as she suddenly latched onto his arm.

'Boyfriend material?' Naruto lightly groaned. _'Boy crazy girl.'_ he thought.

As the two walked towards the forest, they continued to talk about their teams and experiences thus far. Ino felt herself growing closer to the blond as the walk went on. It was hard to explain it. He just seemed to exhume a certain air around himself. It was warm and comforting; like you could tell him anything you wanted and not be afraid of judgement. It'd always been there. She just didn't realize it until now.

Naruto was simply someone who was refreshingly honest in a world where lies and deception were just as common as the truth. It was as if him just being there was enough to convince her that everything would be okay.

The two found themselves arriving at the edge of the forest, the moon shining down from high above them. "Hey Ino-chan want to see something amazing?"

Ino laughed. What ridiculous thing was he going to show her today. "Sure." Grabbing her hand, Naruto pulled Ino close to him.

"N-Naruto-kun, now see here I'm not that kind of girl. Buy me dinner first." She remarked, flicking her hair and devolving into a fit of giggles seeing his response.

"Just hold on tight and close your eyes you tease."

Wrapping her arms around his neck, Ino couldn't help but blush a bit at their close proximity. 'Since when was he this toned?' she thought feeling how chiseled the blond was. Then again Naruto's clothes were always baggy and in recent memory she couldn't remember seeing him without the coat or a large sleeved shirt on.

Having closed her eyes, Ino saw nothing, instead, only feeling the rush of wind as she was pushed against Naruto all-the-more. Then, it stopped as she felt Naruto's grip loosen just the slightest. Setting her down to stand on whatever they were on, most likely some kind of rock he steadied her up next to him.

"Open your eyes," Naruto told her after he was sure that she was steady.

"I…wow…." Ino whispered when she opened her eyes.

It was beautiful. The forest was illuminated by a bright swarm of glowing bugs and the moon light reflected off the soft lake below.

"We're in a very serene and calm area of training ground 44."

Ino's eyes widened in shock. She had heard about the rumored Forest of Death. It was an S-rank danger zone with various degrees of dangers. Commonly the weakest zone was a testing ground for newly minted chunin to gauge their level of combat and the forbidden areas housed powerful creatures bred for combat and other such things. Beast masters and summon users were the only ones given access to that part of the forest.

As Ino continued looking around she couldn't help but noticed just how beautiful everything looked. They had stayed there for a little while, enjoying the serenity of the scene until it was time for them to start heading back.

"I have to admit this was a pretty nice evening. You sure know how to impress a girl." Ino commented as they made their way back to the village.

"Indeed." He softly uttered as his expression turned serious.

"Hey? What's wrong?" she asked, noticing that her companion's expression suddenly changed.

"Ino-chan, I need your help with something, but before I can even ask you, there's something you have to know."

"What…what is it?" She couldn't help but grow concerned as Naruto looked rather worried. Surely it couldn't be that bad right.

"It has to do with who I am. On the day I was born over fifteen years ago. The day I lost my parents and the day I became a Jinchuuriki…"

* * *

It was a lot to take in. She saw just how little she knew about him. , Ino openly shed some tears upon hearing how Naruto's birth mother died and how Yondaime, as much as it wounded him to do it, used Naruto, his own flesh and blood, as a living sacrifice to seal away Kyuubi and save all of Konoha, stopping the Kyuubi from doing further damage and killing more people. It pained Ino deeply knowing that Naruto carries such a heavy burden without his consent, but was inspired at the fact that Naruto never allowed this to crush his spirit and character.

In hindsight the Naruto's desire to bring honor to a clan he never knew and his drive to honor his parents was absolutely touching yet heart breaking. Living up to their expectations and hopes were the only way Naruto could connect to his parents besides learning their techniques or about the Uzumaki heritage.

To which if he wanted to restore the clan in a timely fashion he would have to go with the 'Heritage Expansion Act.' Ino shivered at thinking about it. It was not unheard of for it to be called by different names or colored up, often some people called it 'clan restoration act' without any thought or consideration of the basis or origin of it.

The original form of the act was the act of capturing members of a clan or blood line, mostly female members, enslaving and brain washing them so they could be used as living factories to either instill the blood line and traits within the clan or make living weapons.

It was one of the dirty little secrets of many prominent Kekki Genkai wielding clans that weas not discussed openly. Though not all those with blood lines were supporter of the act and preferred methods that comparatively were not as sickening but comparably still pretty bad. Like the Hyuugas who preferred inter-marrying to keep their blood lines pure and enslavement of members they relegate to the status as cadet branch to act as sacrifices to keep the Main branch safe.

After spending who knows how long silent Ino realized she hadn't heard what Naruto wanted of her. "Naruto-kun, what did you want my help with?"

"I want to enter my mind. I have never tried anything like that before and with you coming from a clan of mind walkers, I thought you might be able to help me." He explained to her and waited for her response.

"I should be able to help but can I ask why you want to enter your mind all of a sudden?"

"I want to see if I can communicate with the Kyuubi. I want to try and find out why the Kitsune decided to attack Konoha like it did." Naruto replied shocking Ino even more.

"You can't be serious Naruto. You actually want to try and talk with the Kyuubi? Are you insane!?"

"This is something I have to do Ino. Hokage-sama has already told me any day now Ero…Jiraiya-sama is going to come back to the village and help me learn how to tap into using the demon's power. Whether I like it or not I am our village's deterrent from the other villages who also have Bijuu. Nearly all of them have a massive head start on mastering their demon's power. The only saving grace I have is they focused on developing my mind and practical skills so I have the tools not to be over reliant on the Kyuubi. Will you help me Ino-chan?"

It was dangerous. It was stupid. It was what Naruto wanted.

She was reluctant. She wanted to say no, but one way or another he was going to be expected to use the demon's power right? At least this way if things got dangerous she could cancel the technique.

Naruto would probably try it on his own or find someone else from her clan who would be all too happy to make a mistake ending the life of the shinobi.

"You're a baka. Baka you hear me. I shouldn't be agreeing to this, but I'll do this for you. Because I have faith in you." No matter what Naruto never gave up in himself or in others. She couldn't start doubting him now could she?

A few minutes later, the teens were setting in Naruto's living room floor. "So how does this work Ino-chan?"

"First, I'll go into your mindscape. After that you will start to feel a small pull from the inside of your body, don't fight it and just allow me to pull you into your mindscape. From there we just have to find where the Kitsune is and you should be able to speak to him." She explained to him.

After receiving the go ahead from Naruto, Ino ran through a few hand signs before placing her hands on Naruto's temples. At first, Naruto wasn't sure if it had worked or not. But after a minute or two, he felt the pull that Ino was talking about. Naruto closed his eyes and allowed himself to be pulled into his mindscape.

* * *

Naruto opened his eyes to find himself in a hallway with pipes running along the walls and ceiling. There was also about two inches of water on the floor. "Your mind is a gutter Naruto-kun. I knew it! So you do be splurging your money on dirty magazines!"

She accused the blond pointed at him as if she was commanding him to confess.

"First of all this is more a sewer. Which does not help my case and…just hush and help me find the damn Kitsune." Naruto grumbled after realizing he had no real way to counter Ino's claims.

Without any sense of time the two traveled aimlessly throughout the area until they finally reached a massive room with a giant gate that reached from the ceiling to the floor with a paper tag with the kanji for seal on it.

"Ino you stay back. This is something I have to do on my own." He said as he moved closer to the cage. He got close enough for two massive crimson eyes to appear in the darkness.

Instantly he sensed danger and jumped back, narrowly avoiding the claw that shot out from the cage.

"NARUTO-KUN!" Ino was about to run when Naruto's shout stopped her in place.

"STAY BACK!" Naruto shouted from his spot on the ground. He turned his expression back to the demon in front of him.

" **Curse this damn cage. If not for it I would devour you and make my escape."** The demon voice was not only deep, but It echoed with both power and malice. **"So tell me what brings my container before me? The coward before you did everything in her power to pretend I didn't exist until it was convenient for her."**

Naruto bristled slightly, but let the comment about his mother go. Anger was one of the easiest ways for a Bijuu to take control, second only to hatred and one step above despair.

"I wished to meet you and to discover the truth. The truth in regards of you being sealed inside of me. Why did you attack the village all those years ago?"

" **And why should I answer you? What could you possibly offer me?"**

A bargain? He was ready for this. He had been studying his father's notes and the Uzumaki clan seals. He still lacked the necessary skill to use his clan masks to summon the Shinigami to make the alterations to the seal, so he would hope the kitsune would accept an I.O.U.

"I am one of the last Uzumaki. I am studying to become a seal master. I want your cooperation Kyuubi no Kitusne. Your power and knowledge will be valuable, but willingly given would benefit me more than simply just taking it. One day I will raise my skill allowing me to tweak the seal that binds you to experience certain things. Right now you're just stuck with what I see and hear. That much is common with the information written down from Mito's observations. To feel what I feel. To smell. To taste. It would make your imprisonment a little less bearable right?"

The demon rumbling of a chuckle escaped the Kyuubi's maw. " **You are an interesting Ningen. Trying to barter? Trying to prove you're not like the rest of your barbaric kind who want my power to kill, destroy, and subjugate?"**

"I won't lie, there might be a time I might use your power to kill, but I don't seek to kill because I want to, but because I need to. Either to protect those around me or achieve my goals. For now I can only offer you the knowledge I would gain under your advisement as well as making things as entertaining as possible while you're locked up in here."

" **You have yet proven yourself worthy of my power. As you are now you are far too weak. Show me your conviction and power if you even have hopes of wielding mine, but I shall indulge your bravery or should I say foolishness.**

 **During the incident of your birth I **wasn't in control of myself at the time of the attack. The seal on a jinchuriki in weakest during child birth. During the time of your birth, a masked man with the sharingan ripped me out of your mother and placed me under his control. Your father fought with the masked man but by the time he beat the man, the damage had been done. Your parents used what little bit of strength they had left and gave their lives to reseal me into you. It was not until recently that the function of seal that put me to sleep has worn off."****

"You said this man had the Sharingan which would make him an Uchiha. The Uchiha clans were wiped out a few years ago by one of their clan members. Could this man be dead?"

" **I don't think so. This Uchiha smelled of something unnatural. Something even I cannot identify. So the Uchiha responsible was anything, but a normal human being. Even you flesh sacks with your blood line gifts have distinct traits I can pick up. The best I can identify the scent as is a mixture of nature and graveyard soil."**

"Would it please you to see this masked man dead?"

" **Fool. I am the mighty Kyuubi no Kitusne. Strongest of the Nine. Destroyer of Isles and bringer of Cataclysms. I am no one's pet. Nothing will please me more then to kill that man. As I said boy show me you are worthy of my power next time we visit and I will consider your proposals."**

"Will do Kyuubi-san." Naruto said with a bow as he and Ino vanished.

" ** _A human treating me as something besides a tool or burden. He was even willing to ask for permission for my power. I wonder. Could he be the one you talked about father?"_** thought Kurama as the two teens vanished.

The technique ended and Naruto and Ino awoken where they had went into the trace. "Thanks Ino-chan, what you did tonight helped me more than you'll ever know."

He had clues now. New goals. He was going to be busy for a while. "Would you like me to walk you home or do you just want to stay the night?" He suddenly asked her. It was surely nearing midnight at this point.

"My parents are both out on missions so if you don't mind I will spend the night here." She replied.

"I don't mind, you can have my bed tonight and I'll sleep on the couch." Naruto said as he stretched and took a seat on the couch. Wasn't like he could get much sleep tonight with what he learned.

Naruto now knew that meant he was going to be developing a good deal of his time researching ways to counteract the Sharingan.

"Just…just don't go off the deep end on me. Now that…now that you know…" With the discovery it was an intentional and malicious act Ino was kind of afraid of Naruto becoming revenge obsessed like Sasuke.

"Ino-chan, I won't. You and the others would never forgive me if I sat around all day and brood." He remarked.

Ino cracked a smile and playfully thumped his forehead. "That's right. Quota's been filled. Now I'm going to go take a shower so you better not peep." She said as Naruto rolled his eyes.

Naruto couldn't help but watch as Ino began her strut down the hallway. Especially with the sway she made with those hips of hers.

At the very least as much as Ino liked to tease him she was a great friend and someone he could count on.

He should. He should include her in on his plan. Hinata too and maybe even Shino. Sure they weren't his team mates, but he would feel better knowing his friends were given the means to defend themselves.

He couldn't shake the feeling that if this mysterious Uchiha was so intent on destroying Konoha all those years ago with the Kyuubi attack he wouldn't have given in so easily after one try.

No. Whatever was to come Naruto was going to be ready to face it.


	5. Heiress Hinata and Mistress Anko!

A Different Choice

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Naruto x ?

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Author's Note

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This fanfic is so way beyond my level of writing and quality that it hurts. This fic is literally going to be too good for me as I don't think I ever put this much attention or Focus in anything besides Equestrian Heroes and soon enough with time RWUBY.

In other words I fear this will be the fic to break me. XD

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Story Start

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'How could I let Ino convince me to do this?' Hinata thought as she looked herself over in the mirror.

The girl was wearing a hooded cream colored jacket, but it was fully unzipped as she wore a black fishnet top that stopped right under her breasts. The shirt was also cut to show off some of her cleavage.

For bottoms she wore black short jean shorts, that cupped her bubble butt. The shoes she were black low heeled sandals.

' _If Naruto-kun were to see me like this…I'd…I'd just die of embarrassment_.'

Being from a clan of mind walkers meant member of their clans were trained from an early age to be able to discern truth from lies. There wasn't anyone below Chunin rank or incredibly intelligence and shrewd that could pick up on whether or not a Yamanaka was lying or not.

Most people when they thought of clans they thought of their blood lines or clan techniques. Those were the fools that died quickly or those who cared little for the clan as people.

Those who actually bothered to get to know a clan would know all the traits about them. Like the traits they developed. What market they were in. What animals they raised.

The older and more influential a clan became the more money they gained and the further they grew their ventures. Very few people knew that the Yamankas were the one that raised and trained the pigeons that the village used as messengers just as few knew outside of Konoha knew the specific of the Yamankas ability to discern lie from truth.

Which was why Hinata found herself having to try the outfit on. Ino would know if she would be lying and saying she tried on the outfit, but didn't.

"Hey Hinata-chan!"

Hinata had frozen, her mind shut down as she heard the last voice she wanted to at that moment.

"I was wondering if you were up for some trai-oh-whoa…" Naruto had finally taken up the sight of what Hinata was wearing and it took him a few seconds to comprehend he was eyeing his friend up and down before pulling himself together. "I was not aware you were going to go out on a date. Sorry to interrupt." The thought of Hinata going out on a date had sadden the blond. He had always considered a good friend. Loyal. Kind. Beautiful. Hinata deserved to be happy, but he couldn't help but feel a bit remissed.

Naruto's disappointment and his words shocked Hinata out of her stupor. "NO! Naruto-kun I would never…that is to say…" No stop it. Don't do that. She chided herself. She was poking her fingers together again. "I…no date…its just a misunderstanding. I-Ino-chan…she…"

"Say no more…" he said as he realized this was not Hinata's style, but more like something Ino would convince her to wear. He said all this while placing a hand on her shoulder as a hue of pink appeared on her cheeks. "You're not busy right? I was going to ask you if you wanted to train, but you're not really dressed for it." The hue got even darker upon that remark. "Oh but I wanted to show you this. You'll be the first to see this." He said as he pulled out a scroll and unroll it.

On the scroll was an intricate looking seal reminiscent of the chakra sealing seal used on captured enemy shinobi.

"My 'Restrain' seal."

"Restrain Naruto-kun?" she wondered what would have made it any different from a chakra suppression seal.

"Yes, now as you know growing one's chakra reserves require training and expending one's stamina. So I wondered, was there a way to speed up the process? Now normally restraining one's chakra reserves to grow bigger had been an idea considered, but it was never practical because previous attempts led to the permanent damage to the practioners bodies as they never had considered the stress it would put on their muscle and internal organs. There were even cases of damage done to the heart or simply death as the body's production rate of red blood cells could simply not keep up. So I went and spoke with some medic nins and I incorporated and created this." He brought out another scroll bringing out a different design, this one more reminiscent of a palm. "This one I call the healing palm. Its not as good as being healed as a medical specialist, but it has the benefit of using some of that residual chakra to help boost the healing rate of your body. In other words a way to safely boost your reserves and your bodies recovering rate without fear of damaging yourself."

"Naruto-kun, that is amazing." Hinata cheered, "I'm so happy you were able to complete one of your seals."

Hinata was very well aware of Naruto's love of seals. She knew how difficult the art of working on and creating seals. There were even fewer seal master then there were Iijutsu users. Seal Masters were a rarity and one of the most valuable and respected shinobi in a village.

"So far seals need to be placed nearly everywhere and triggered either one at a time or all at once. Its not practical. I need to work on there being far less seals and specific triggers. Wouldn't want to accidentally cause a heart attack or something. And once I'm done with this I am going to improve Gravity seals yet!"

Making a better gravity seal was one of Naruto's short term goals. At first it was a training method many Shinobi had used before they realized the seals caused muscle deterioration ending a shinobi's career a decade or two sooner than the method of plain weights as well as damage to one internal organs. Now they simply just reversed the formula to make heavy things easier to lift or to make valuable treasure or items impossible to pilfer by civilian thieves.

"So," Naruto asked. Hinata looked at him with a confused look, "So what?"

"How about it?" Naruto asked.

"How about what?" Hinata asked.

"Would you like to be my first?" he asked completely serious.

"N-Naruto-kun!" Hinata exclaimed, she was starting to feel faint.

This was just so sudden. For Naruto to ask this of her she wasn't sure if she was ready.

"What? I figure who better than one of my friends to try my seals?" Oh he was such a dirty bastard. If it had been Sakura or Ino he could have simply kept up the ruse without missing a beat.

But this was Hinata.

And by default that made him feel like a bastard.

"Sorry. It was a bad joke."

"Naruto-kun you shouldn't make such jokes."

' _Don't smile you'll only make it worse.'_ He told himself. Someone needed to change the word adorable in dictionary to simply Hinata. "Right, right. Anyway you interested?"

"It sounds interesting. I will be more than happy to try."

"Alright, but remember please keep tight lip about what you learned. We can never know who's an ally or spy until it's too late and by then they might already gained a lot of information on us and our abilities. That is why I made sure I came off as only adequate in class. Until the time is right I can't afford for my secret weapons to get out."

Even though no training had gotten done Naruto had to admit he enjoyed spending time with his friends. It gave him the down time needed to rest and recharge.

* * *

Naruto was exhausted. Testing out his new restrict seals with Substitution training proved more taxing then he had planned.

Leaning against the tree he took a moment to rest. For a moment he contemplated taking a nap when he sensed another presence. He whirled around hand on a kunai as he saw a figure approach. A kunoichi that looked to be in her early twenties wearing a Sunagakure forehead protector.

A tanto was attached to her left side on her belt. She was fit, short in stature but her outfit showed her lean legs and figured composing of a pair of shorts, fishnet stockings, and fishnet shirt with an open black jacket and her alluring long red hair done in the style of a pony tail.

Naruto watched warily as she approached him. "May I ask why an allied shinobi is traveling around unescorted?" The way she eyed him with those hungry eyes made him weary.

"I'm afraid I've gotten a bit lost Konoha shinobi-kun. I was on my way back and found myself lost in this alluring forest. When you live in a desert environment one is so easily entrenched by nature."

"I can lead you to the gates if you wish."

"So quick to get rid of me? Are you not interested of giving me a tour?" The gesture she made with her hand was crafty as it brought attention to her cleavage.

Naruto was careful not to let his focus drop. This shinobi carried herself with confidence. Far too much to be a low level shinobi. Possibly Jounin. But yeah she was not wearing a flak jacket to identify her rank.

"Aah sorry I am simply too tired out. I can find someone who can help you."

 _'An enemy can appear before you at any time. Even with the face of an ally.'_

"I don't take rejection lightly Konoha-kun. I am going to have to punish you. Fire Style:Great Dragon Fire Technique!"

Naruto immediately leapt to the side. The head of a dragon in the form of fire emerged. The heat of the flames so intense that the water of the lake he was by began to heat up.

The kunoichi did not stop there, launching a half dozen shurikens at him that Naruto hastily blocked with his kunai. Clinging to a tree he launched himself from the tree and use the weapon version of shadow copying to launching a multitude of shurikens at the Kunoichi.

She had moved out of the way of his attack instantly.

"Is that all you got?"

Spinning Naruto leaped away from where he was standing. The kunoichi had gotten behind him? But how? How did she evade his detection so easily?

She drew her blade and licked the tip of it. "I just love the taste of young man." She launched at him.

Thanking quickly Naruto summoned a legion of clones, the first few taking the brunt of the initial slash and disappearing in a cloud of smoke.

"You think your clones will save you." She began quickly carving through them with ease.

He had to take control of the fight. Bringing out the giant shuriken he had brought for his balancing practice he had let it fly to which the kunoichi dodged with each. "Tch, amateur. Is this the best of Konoha's new generation."

Using her blade she blocked it only for a second shuriken to emerge as a result of the action.

The shuriken revealed itself to be Naruto. "Now take this!" With all his strength he hurled the kunai to which the Kunoichi spawn, caught, and sent it hurtling back at the shocked blond dispelling him.

"Is that all you…" the kunoichi was cut off mid taunt when the shuriken in her hands weight took on a massive shift in weight causing her to drop to the ground, nearly dislocating her arm in the process. "You tricky little shit!" She tried to get up only to find out that she couldn't let go of it. "What the…damn you Naruto!"

Naruto let out a hearty laugh. "Nice try Anko-nee-chan."

The kunoichi in question let the disguise drop. The woman in question, Mitarashi Anko had has light brown, pupil-less eyes, and black hair which has a violet tint styled in a short, spiky, fanned-ponytail. Her outfit consisted of a tan overcoat with a purple in-seam, which has a pocket on both sides, and complete with a fitted mesh body suit that stretches from her neck down to her thighs. She was wearing a dark orange mini-skirt, as well as a forehead protector, a small pendant that looks like a snake fang on a thick cord rather than a chain to prevent it from being easily torn off in combat, a wrist watch, and pale grey shin guards. She was also wearing a dark blue belt around her waist that connects to her skirt that has an appendage-like sash. And on the back of ner neck was a mark appearing in the form of three tomoe.

"How'd you know it was me anyway?"

Naruto snorted, "You teased me way too many times with variations of the taste of young men for me not to know. Also you're wearing fishnets. Its like you weren't even trying." Naruto let out a yelp and dodge, jumping to the other side of the crazy woman who just fired snakes out of the trenchcoat arm of her free hand. Naruto instantly channeled his chakra into a kunai and placed it on her other arm pinning.

"Oi, you let me up right now brat or you're really going to get it." She couldn't believe it. How the hell did her little plan to mess with Naruto backfire on her in such a way? This was downright embarrassing.

"Only if you promise to not try and murder me if you do." Naruto knew it was futile. Anko was a very wild woman, but it would make him feel better before she paralyzed him and burry him in a ditch somewhere.

"We'll see."

She in fact didn't try to and murder him. Just a good old fashion elbow to the temple. Anko could be very vindictive.

By the time he came too he realized he was no longer in the forest but in Anko's apartment. He let out an oomph as the lustrous woman dropped him his lap, straddling him as her crotch pressing into his as she wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her chest into his.

"Heard you finally passed bro. Looks like you finally get to earn that little reward I promised now that you're an adult." She remarked teasingly as she began to grind herself slowly into him, smirking as she felt his dick hardening and his cloth covered crotch rubbing exquisitely her lower lips.

Naruto gripped her plump as cheeks and helped her grind harder. "Geeze first time you're back in weeks and another test."

What Naruto lacked in terms of practical romance he made up for it in knowledge of the seduction arts. With Anko being his teacher he was used to sexual stimulation of various degrees. It would have been far too simple for someone of Naruto's personality type to be tricked or caught off guard by seduction. So for the last two years Anko had been helping him in that regard. Disguising as women on different body types and style, often seducing and helping build up his tolerance as well as build up his resistance to sexual techniques.

It was a practice looked down upon by a lot of modern day people and kuinochi, but sexual appearance and resistance often saved lives. What good would having the power of a kage do if a pretty face could walk up to you, massage your ego and muscles, and slip a needle into your jugular before you knew what happened?

Hence why having one or two partners were encouraged. So you would less likely to slip up as well as decrease your chances of giving into sexual indulges if sometime prior, especially if within the same day you were already satisfied. It led to a clearer head.

"This isn't a test baka. I'm serious." She remarked as she began to up the speed of her movements. "Going to pluck me a che-ery tonight." She sang as Naruto's face heated up.

He found himself stuck between nervousness, excitement, and a strong sense of arousal. Naruto had been forewarn a year ago that losing his virginity was not required it would help his effectiveness as a shinobi if he had the experience under his belt.

But right now it was more than that. Anko was one of his precious people. He had a bond with her. He found her beautiful. She was a kindred spirit and understood him.

He had already contemplated for quite some time in inviting her to be an honorary member of his clan, but maybe…maybe she could be something more to him?

All thoughts ceased when her tongue slipped into his mouth.

He decided to let whatever was going to happen to just happen.

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Chapter End

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Sorry to took so long. Continuing my trend with this fic. Wanted to avoid the cliché of their always be a super special awesome romantic and heartfelt romantic first time.

Real life isn't always like that. Just as sex isn't always amazing, first times can be awkward or happen just between two people who are kind of close and happen to be attracted to each other.

Next chapter will be out soon.


	6. Meeting Team Gai!

A Different Choice

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Naruto x ?

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Story Start

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 _Noble Disposition aside Naruto's experiences did not mean he did not have darkness in his heart. That much was sure when he asked about the capacity to manipulate your opponents' emotions in battle._

 _"Manipulating your opponent's emotions is not always a surefire strategy. If you accidentally misjudge how a person is going to react, then that can mean your death. I have seen people taunt their opponent, only to be dead when their opponent goes off in rage. Instead you should spend your time observing your opponent. Information is very vital to a ninja because any bit of information can save you from death. For instance what kind of fighter is that shinobi over there?_

 _Young Naruto observed the person Kazuma pointed out a shinobi with scars on his arms._

 _"A weapon users."_

 _Kazuma chuckled. "Actually a Taijutsu expert that is a rookie in weapons. His clothing is a bit baggy hiding his form and the way he carries himself indicates so."_

 _Naruto was surprised. "Really?"_

 _"Would it surprise you to learn that shinobi is an Iijutsu user actually and you believed me without actually considering I could be deceiving you?"_

 _Naruto was surprised that he was tricked so easily._

 _"Information gathering is vital, not only for survival, but alliances. If you wish to become Hokage you need more than strength. You need ties. The more you can bring to the village in forms of alliances, knowledge, or even blood lines the more support you can get. This skill will also prove vital when seeking out viable romantic interests._

 _So play down your strength when necessary, but play up your intelligence. The truly worthwhile ties will more likely react to your mental prowess than if you were a brainless powerhouse."_

* * *

Yet another lesson Naruto had taken to heart and implemented in his life.

Naruto knew there were two methods to restore his clan. Find a bunch of either willing women to become his 'consorts' or find survivors of the purge. The first one was to be more likely, especially since he would need at least eight members to be considered a clan.

All and all it was time to update his wardrobe. As much as he enjoyed black and orange, adding a bit more red, white, blue, and purple wouldn't hurt. Even some green and brown for camouflage and he knew just the place. That and he wanted an excuse to visit the place.

Naruto arrived to a normal looking two floor building made of birch wood and metal infrastructure. Above the window and the door there was a big sign that stylishly read 'The Rising Dragon'. The store's bell jingle indicating to its inhabitants a customer.

Naruto quickly regarded the store with an appraising eye. It had a vast selection of weapons.

There was of course your common kunai and shuriken. What most didn't realize that there were different variations. Those sharpened to different consistencies for their purpose either puncturing the skin and flesh or to glide easier through the air because their purpose was to carry an explosive tag stuck to them.

There was also the exploding variety of shinobi tools. The most common was the Exploding note used as a projectile or to cause a distraction while the more advance were the pouch and smoke grenades used by more skilled shinobi.

Then there was of course the style of clothing and the material used in them. Some resistant to blades while others added protection against fire or lightning. How effective they were depended on the user and their style. Heavy armors meant nothing if the user was too physically weak to move in them.

Though, if Naruto had to be honest his favorite reason to come here was standing behind the counter, beaming at him with a happy smile." Hey there Naruto how's it going?"

"Hey there Ten-Ten-chan, how are you?"

Tenten was a year older than him, having graduated with her team two years previously. She had chocolate brown hair pulled into Chinese-style buns on either side of her head with short fringe-bangs falling over her forehead protector with steel grey eyes.

She was wearing a long-sleeved white blouse with high collar, a red fastener, and edges paired with similarly colored, puffy pants that look like a hakama, with the exposed parts of her legs near the waist covered in bandages. She also wore brown finger-less gloves, with black, open-toed sandals with low heels, and the shoes extend to the lower ankles. To the side on the wall was her giant summoning scroll.

He and Tenten had been fairly good friends for a few years. She was a prodigy when it came to weapons, a genius of tools a few shinobi had praised her. Tenten had already mastered all the basic shinobi tools to the utmost abilities her current level allowed. It was only because she lacked an experienced jounin's strength and speed as to why she was only considered above average in regards to her weapon's ability. She was also fairly proficient in close combat weapons, but excelled in long range.

Between her tomboyish demeanor and baggy clothing it would be easy to consider Tenten one of the guys, that and her focus on her career meant she didn't have many prospects for dating, but that did not make her any less beautiful.

During one training session where Naruto accidentally shredded her pants he got a glimpse of thick creamy thighs and fairly thick cheeks. Naruto wondered if Tenten wore such baggy clothing as she was embarrassed by the thickness when she was more concerned about becoming a strong kunoichi then being some boy's arm candy.

Naruto reached the counter to which Tenten wrapped him into a tight side hug. He wrapped an arm around her and returned the affectionate gesture. He marveled just how his arm could rest on top of the hidden bump. If Ten-Ten noticed she either didn't care of mind.

"So how's my little Kouhai?" she asked him with a grin.

"Oi," he shot her a playfully annoyed look. "We're the same rank, I'm not your kouhai anymore."

"Nah, I'm still a year older than you."

She was holding over his head the seven month different as she teased him. "So what can I help you with today?" She pulled away before jabbing him in the side.

"Ah." He rubbed where Tenten playfully jabbed his ribs. "What was that for?"

"Sneaking a peak at my ass the other day of course. Since when were you so bold anyway?" She asked as she crossed her arms. Despite the gesture Tenten wasn't annoyed, in fact she was a bit flattered, but didn't mean Naruto could freely perve on her.

"S-Sorry." He apologized. Ever since that day with Anko, he had found his confidence increasing. When one was a virgin sexual interaction could be highly intimidating and having Anko as a teacher broke him out of this shyness. Having a godfather like Jiraiya also was bound to have the man's perversity rub off him a bit. Then there was Kakashi who read his smut and all honesty Kazuma was probably the most normal one. Teaching Naruto the ins and outs of being respectful and what was considered normal courtship and flirting so the blond wouldn't be running around like a perverted idiot with a perpetual and public hard-on. Subtly went a long way in many things after all.

"I need your help with choosing out some more clothes. I'm expanding my wardrobe. Also I was hoping we could spar later on today."

"I'll have to check with my kaa-san, but that would be okay." Sparring with Naruto was always fun. Well, not when he used his affinity, but at least it gave Tenten insight into a weakness she never considered. Tenten couldn't help but think about how the blond had entered her life all that time ago.

* * *

 _With an exhausted series of pants Tenten collapsed to her knes as she tried to raise her hand above her head. She was signaling the gesture of giving up. This was the agreed gesture between their team to stop the spar. Tenten had only been a member of team nine for a few weeks and she could tell her team was not normal. Hyuuga Neji, cadet member of the Hyuuga clan was a Genius and rookie of the year of their year._

 _He was fast and scary proficient. He made a good sparring partner and shinobi, but he was so cold at times and looked down on those he considered weak. While Tenten didn't like Neji's elitist sort of view or his deference to fate she couldn't help but find him a bit cool and cute. As much as she tried to ignore these feelings she hated the fact she could not, but have a crush on her teammate._

 _But for some reason Neji didn't seem to recognize the sign. He was charging forward his palm raised and Tenten froze in fright. She couldn't move and if he landed a strike on her exposed torso he could cause her serious damage or even cripple her for life._

 _It was like her lungs were frozen as she couldn't utter the words stop. She couldn't hear anything but her own heartbeat in her eyes._

 _She shut her eyes tight and expected to feel pain._  
 _But there wasn't any._

 _Tenten waited one second, two, three... then she opened her eyes slowly. Her eyes widened at the sight before her._

 _Neji was standing about 2 meters from her, his palm was pressing against orange and black fabric. To her surprise between them was Uzumaki Naruto from the academy._

 _He was from a different class and year from them. Tenten had met him maybe once or twice, they were acquaintances at best, not what you would call friends, but were civil to each other._

 _'W-where did he come from? W-why is he here?'_

 _Tenten's pondering them registered what was happening. Out of nowhere Naruto had arrived and he blocked Neji's attack. Neji's Attack. But how? Naruto didn't show to be anything special yet he managed to stand his ground when most would be limping from jyuuken strike._

 _Naruto growled at Neji. "What's wrong with you? Couldn't you see your teammate was in no means to defend herself. So much for the all-seeing eye when you can't perceive something as simple as that."_

 _Tenten´s eyes widened. Did Naruto just defend her?_

 _Neji went from surprised, to annoyed._

 _"We are training do not interfere. Something as plain as yourself should not interfere in matters you don't understand."_

 _"You know nothing of me so don't proceed to judge. You're supposed to be a genin, yet you couldn't tell your sparring partner couldn't defend herself? Did you not read her body movements? Her stance? Her expression?" Naruto had to hold his tongue to avoid going into the laments he was told about the current academy structure. If he kept on he would end up provoking the boy into a fight and Naruto could not win this fight without revealing more than he was willing to. "What would they say if someone from Konoha's most respected clan was known to beat down on their helpless teammate? Imagine how your clan would react if you did something to insult their image? I take it the head of your clan wouldn't be happy?" Naruto had expected a frown or snarl, but the sheer hatred that flashed in the Hyuuga's eyes put him off guard. He had no way of knowing this person's life and history, but it seemed like he pushed a button._

 _"Ten-Ten when you decide to get serious and improve yourself instead of hanging out when mediocre losers you know where to find me."_

 _While Tenten flinched at the coldness Naruto was no stranger to coldness or fury. As Neji left Naruto turned to face her._

 _"Hey... Are you alright?"_

 _Tenten finally snapped out of her trance and saw Naruto standing before her with his hand extended. She looked at the offered hand as if she didn´t understand what he meant. She looked at his face, and was met with a smile. His smile was so warm and it caused her heart to flutter._

 _She felt her cheeks become red and her breathing quickened slightly. She swallowed and took his hand. Naruto helped her to her feet but didn´t let_  
 _go of her hand immediately, and neither did she._

 _"Y-You're Tenten-san right, you were an upperclassmen in the academy a few months ago. "_

 _Tenten studied the blonde boy before her, and found that she kind of liked what she saw. For a young teen he was surprisingly built. 'He must be specializing in Taijutsu like Lee.' Naruto's build compared to Lee's was much slimmer but it was obvious he trained._

 _"T-Thank you Uzumaki-san, it appears my teammate didn't see my gesture." Tenten managed to get out. That was the first time Tenten had ever referred to Neji as such instead of by his name. She knew he didn't mean to dismiss her as such, he was…no…she wouldn't make excuses for him. That was what fangirls did with their crushes. Tenten knew of Neji's history and while it attributed to his cold behavior and from a psychological stand point she could understand if he could be stand offish there was no reason to take your anger out on innocent people._

 _"Aaah, it was nothing! I just saw someone who needed my help. And call me Naruto. All my friends do."_

 _"Friends? I…well I guess since you saved me and the all the least I could do is call you a friend."_

* * *

And that was how a friendship was formed. From that point on Naruto had developed a friendship with Tenten who he helped with Fuinjutsu who helped him with weapons in exchange.

A little while later Naruto would be introduced to the rest of Tenten's teams. As he got closer he saw two males wearing green spandex walking on their hands. "Look Lee, someone has joined us in running on this youthful morning." The older man beamed to his disciple.

 _"Yosh, Gai-sensei this person is worthy in becoming my rival." The younger version proclaimed to his sensei._

 _Lee jumped from his position and landed in front of Naruto, stopping Naruto from moving forward. "Hello my name is Rock Lee; may I have your name?" Lee asked while he held out his hand._

 _"Uzumaki Naruto, nice to meet you Lee-san."_

 _This time Gai stopped Naruto with a hand on Naruto's shoulder. "Ah, you must be young Naruto who our Tenten talks about. It seems that you are a hard worker just like she told us."_

 _Before Naruto could say another word, Tenten came running to the group. "Gai-sensei you are late for the team meeting, what are you doing?" Tenten asked when she spotted Naruto. "Naruto-kun what are you doing here?"_

 _"I'm out for my morning training. I overslept a bit so I was a bit late in starting._

 _Naruto answered with his own question. "These are the two Taijutsu users you told me about right?" He pointed to Guy and Lee before continuing. "You never told me they were this dedicated. Man if I knew they were this dedicated I would have come to them for Taijutsu advice some time ago. Now I know what you meant by cool if not a little crazy training methods."_

 _Gai and Lee smiled brightly, causing Naruto's eyes to flinch in pain. "Did you hear that Lee? Our youthful Tenten told her friend that we were cool. I am one step closer to beating my rival Kakashi in coolness now." Gai shouted out._

 _Naruto raised an eyebrow. Was this the man who Kakashi was rivals with? He had only heard about him in passing…he knew of Konoha's Taijutsu expert, but never formerly met him._

 _"LEE!"_

 _"GAI-SENSEI!"_

 _"LEE!"_

 _"GAI-SENSEI!"_

 _This image of two men with green spandex hugging each other with tears falling from their eyes shocked Naruto out of his thoughts._

 _What the hell did he just miss? And then out of nowhere a sunset Genjutsu activated. He turned to Tenten who merely cringed slightly._

 _"Naruto-san I hope you understand why I always made excused to avoid introducing them to you."_

 _Naruto nodded and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Tenten-san, words cannot expressed how strong you are mentally."_

 _"Even though he is weird, Gai-sensei is the best Taijutsu master in Konoha." Tenten told him._

 _"My Taijutsu is efficient, but efficient is not good enough. I want it to be the best. So if I have to put up with a bit of weirdness I can do that."_

00000000

From that point on Naruto's circle of friends grow as well as his ability at Taijutsu. Speed, Strength, and Endurance while not everything in a fight was major factors that helped control the pace of the battle. While Kazuma's words about intelligence never left Naruto it would be hard to dismiss that a lot of people also valued strength and ability. All the intelligence in the world means nothing for a kage if you were not strong enough to protect the village or earn the confidence for the shinobi populous to respect and follow your orders.

Arriving back to his partner with his scroll filled with new clothes Naruto couldn't help but noticed a note left for him on the table.

Kazuma wanted him to head to the Hokage Residence? He wondered what this was about?


	7. Mission to Wave!

A Different Choice

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Naruto x ?

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Story Start

0

 _Four Years Ago._

Shortly after being accepted into Konoha ranks Kazuma had taken to training Naruto in his clan arts. He wanted to see what the academy was teaching and quite honestly was appalled by the standards. "Hokage-Sama what has happened to the academy's standards? Quite simply promising genin are being crippled by how…minimal the standards are."

Sarutobi puffed at his pipe, "Hmm could you be more specific?"

Kazuma let out a sigh and folded his arms behind his back thumping his finger against his back. When he was agitated or annoyed he had the bad habit of thumping his finger.

"Where to begin? Let's start with the incredibly poor taijutsu style they're being taught. It has far too many holes in it. A basic rush with little consideration for leg techniques, defensive posture or any speed techs. That is just asking to be killed.

Then there is the kunoichi conditioning. Even at the younger ages they're more focused on boys then their ninjutsu. Now I know that was a common problem back them, but I figured by the time they were graduation age that would be trained out of them, or at least the academy teachers would have admonish them on their lack of professionalism.

"Not all of the children are from clan families. Now more than ever we have had an increase of student from civilian families and they simply may not know how to conduct themselves under proper protocol."

"Which I thought the Academy would have trained out of them. They are supposed to be warriors. Blades of the village."

Sarutobi couldn't help but frown at this. Kazuma was hinting points to close to the complaints Danzo would make.

"I'm not saying make them into mindless drones, but they should at least be acting like they will represent our village. It seems incredibly detrimental to rely on our specialists for our village's sole standing and power. While I admit our specialist count and notoriety currently outmatches what is currently known in Iwa or Suna, we have no idea of Kumo's current military power and we only skirt by Mist thanks to their own internal civil wars and bloodline purge. Quite honestly if they wanted to be children they should not be in the academy. Becoming complacent leads to one becoming dead!" Kazuma took a moment to compose himself realizing by the last point he had been yelling. "Apologies Hokage-sama I lost my cool."

Sarutobi understand where Kazuma's anger was coming from. He did not want what happened to Uzugakure to happen to Konohagakure.

"While I appreciate your sense of concern Kazuma-san there are reason the standards have softened. The civilian council wanted more of their children to pass the exam. They wanted their children to be shinobi too but with the standards as they were only the clan children were passing."

"That can easily be explained as the clan's more militaristic mindset gave their children the proper tools and knowledge before they joined the academy. The first few years curriculum is stuff they should know prior to attending the academy. I mean for heaven's sake even the basic tree-walking exercise has been cut. How do our genin stand against others with such low level of training?"

'Quite simply we tend to protect and nurture our genin. In other villages genin without vast promise are disposable, seen as dime a dozen and because of that our ranks have swelled in terms of numbers compared to the other villages. Our number of chunin and Jounin have swelled to twenty-two percent and eight respectively overall compared to the other villages. This has allowed us to have a greater number of patrol shifts to secure our border and allow us to take on a greater number of missions. Our yearly quarter of mission completion has increased thirty-two percent for mission ranks D to B, with a seven percent increase for ranks A and S."

Sarutobi Hiruzen was not known as the professor for nothing. It appears that there were other factors that such lax standards may have influenced positively, but Kazuma felt that they could have done all that, but still improve the overall level of Genin.

"What about I.S.A.P Hokage-sama?" They had to have at least that. The Institution of Shinobi Analysis and Performance while expensive was a highly useful program. Sure they could only afford a hand full of shinobi yearly, but that program helped with the conditioning of such shinobi as Maito Gaia and brought out the latent of Sharingan no Kakashi and a few other village greats. The I.S.A.P. was one of the Nidaime Hokage's greatest creations.

"It unfortunately had to be cut. The losses we suffered from the loss of the Uchiha clan made it where continuing the program was more than we could afford. The money had to go into programs improving our village's security."

Kazuma realized this was a losing battle. He wanted to suggest that the program could help bring about more prodigy's, but the professor probably had an answer for that to. He excused himself shortly after the Sandaime finished speaking. If he could not improve the standards he would have to go about this another way.

And over the years Naruto potential shined through. He had to wait a fair bit of time for Naruto's body to develop enough to start teaching him higher level techniques, but being a both jinchuuriki and Uzumaki allowed Naruto a major headstart on his peers.

"I expect you to not only be strong, but powerful as well Naruto-kun. I have thought you Kagebunshin's benefit for a reason. I have already have you amassing knowledge on multiple subjects for a reason. You never know when rudimentary knowledge on a subject will save you, but now you need to learn about possible enemies." With that he led Naruto to his room and on the table was a vast collection of bingo books. "You will memorize the bingo book and know everything there is to know about the five major hidden villages."

Naruto understood where his uncle was coming from. The information gathered would make him into a venerable walking dictionary. Well considering Kazuma already had him reading dictionaries that wasn't even the most apt description.

"You will spend the rest of the day reading and memorizing this knowledge. Tomorrow is your rest day so remember to relax."

Once a week Naruto was given a day to relax and do whatever he wanted. Depending on the level of training and what he accomplished Kazuma would give him more days off. The man didn't believe endless training everyday was sensible after all. The body and mine needed time to rest. Naruto was roughly expected to train eight to ten hours a day leaving him six to eight hours a day to do what he wanted with the rest of the time resulted around a full night of sleep.

He didn't understand why some shinobi thought only about four to five hours of sleep was sensible. Then again most of them didn't understand a thing beyond basic first aid. It was only because he was chided much in his youth by one of the clan's medics about the importance of taking care of oneself did he have the knowledge he did on taking care of one's body properly. Unfortunately he was still sorely lacking on Iijutsu knowledge in general, but for now it was proficient.

' _I know I am putting so many burdens on you young Naruto. Burdens most clan wouldn't put on their children beyond mastery of the clan techniques, but if you are to be Hokage and bring greatness back to our clan name you need to be ready.'_

* * *

Four Months. Four months since Team Seven had formed and now it was time for their first real mission. A c-rank mission.

Team 7 reported to the Hokage tower.

The mission an escort mission.

From Nami no Kuni they would be escorting the client and protecting them from bandit activity that has been preventing his workers from completing a bridge.

It was time to meet their client.

The client stepped out drinking from a bottle. An older man. At least fifties with gray hair. He took a swig and said, "What? I paid for bodyguards and all I get are some teenagers?"

Said teenagers bristled at this comment. To dismiss a shinobi based on age was foolish. Something done by those who came from a village or settlement with little shinobi activity.

The Hokage merely chuckled. "Tazuna-san, you have one of the leaf's best shinobi, an elite jonin with you. You will be more than safe in his capable hands."

Later on they were all at the front gate. Tazuna looked impatient to be on his way. Kakashi eyed him; something didn't feel right about the mission. Kakashi decided to let things go it was doubtful that anything on this mission would pose a challenge to a shinobi of his caliber.

Kakashi took notice of Naruto carrying a fairly large scroll on his back. Sasuke had a backpack and Sakura was carrying nothing.

Noticing the look in Kakashi's eyes Naruto began to speak up. "I'm carrying Sakura-chan's things with me in my scroll. "

Kakashi was mildly surprised. It appeared Naruto and Sakura were a bit closer than he expected.

Sasuke looked at the blond with mild irritation before remembering Kakashi's words. Then again what use was sealing besides carrying things? The Sealing Arts was not something Sasuke was interested in so he dismissed them.

Naruto created two clones and sent them ahead. Kakashi was aware of this tactic from Naruto's prankster days. Scoping out the perimeter before going in yourself. He was curious to see if Naruto would reveal any of his hidden abilities. He knew in passing and observation Naruto had been training with many of the shinobi's specialists. Naruto's reserves and ability to use Kagebunshin was the only reason why many of his colleagues even humored the request. Normally no shinobi would ever train another's pupil as it was seen as disrespectful nor would they train a student without permission from a clan or them being a konoha shinobi because of the dangerous a young child without proper training and supervision could deal, but Naruto was a special case to which most of them chalked up to his being a Jinchuuriki.

A highly trained and responsible jinchuuriki with supervision from the expert of their fields was a better , far better alternative to an immature kid who didn't know anything. The risks could be catastrophic if the boy was triggered enough to the point the Kyuubi could take full possession.

Even then other such exceptions with Kurenai giving Sakura tips were just as rare if not more so; born from not wanting a promising kid to waste time in bringing out their potential.

Either way if Naruto was sending Kagebunshin ahead as a warning system this would be rather useful.

Tazuna did not know much about shinobi abilities but he knew from stories they could do amazing things. The fact that one of the teenagers made clones of himself boggled his mind. Despite the guilt he felt these shinobi were the only chance his country had.

As they continued there walk Naruto began to speak.

"Chunin level! Missing-nin from Kirigakure. There elemental affinity is water. They used claw gauntlets connected by chains coated in poison. They masked themselves with a low level genjutsu disguised as a puddle." The blond suddenly relayed.

The only ones confused by this sudden omission were Tazuna and Sasuke. Though Tazuna's followed shortly after a nervous twinge. While Kakashi caught the twinge, Naruto could smell the sweat off the man, nearly missing it because of the strong stench of booze.

' _What are you hiding old man?'_

"It's a good thing you made two kagebunshin instead of just one then. Is the other one keeping an eye on them?" Sakura asked them as they continued their trek.

"They're ahead by 0.3 km. My Kagebunshin hasn't moved and is keeping a view on them from one of the trees." He answered.

 _'A dispelled bunshin giving back information? If his bunshin can relay information like that then it would be a useful jutsu. I need to figure out how he learned it so I can learn it as well.'_ Sasuke thought.

"We will continue the course, be ready for an attack." Kakashi ordered.

True to Naruto's predication a puddle was up ahead. Even without Naruto's warning a lone puddle after the fact it hadn't rain in over week would have already alerted the jounin's senses. He would leave it up to his students to take care of this. All the training in the world wouldn't matter without real combat experience.

Sure enough after a few moments as the group walked by the puddle two shinobi, two men garbed in dirty grey clothing and demon-like armor rise from the puddle. They had spiky black hair, wore raggedy grey cloaks, and had metallic masks over the lower half of their faces. Before anyone could react, a spiked chain that was attached to the clawed metal gauntlets was wrapped around Kakashi. In a gruesome display, the chain was pulled savagely by the two men, shredding Kakashi into pieces and causing a rain of blood and flesh to fall the ground with a resounding thud!

Unbeknownst to them what really happened was that Kakashi completed an undetectable replacement jutsu right as a chain that connected the two gauntlets and shinobi together was wrapped around him. Kakashi stayed hidden off to the side, as he watched what his team would do.

"One down…" was the only deeply garbled words spoken by the two before they blurred out of sight once again, only to reappear heading straight for Sakura and Tazuna. Drawing out two kunai she stood in front of Tazuna readied to fight back.

Sasuke was the first to go on the offensive as he threw a few shuriken at the pair of shinobi racing for them. The shuriken blade slid into the middle of the hole pinning the chain into the tree.

"So…it seems the old man has better protection than we were told of," said one of the two attacking shinobi as they struggled to free the chain.

Naruto dashed to the one on the left, the solid blow cracking his ribs. The force of the blow sent the demon brother flying to the side only to come to a sudden jolt followed by a crack as the force of the blow inadverntely yanked the pinned chain out of the tree.

Naruto gave chase as tightened up his fist. "Gozu!" The other one rushed to his brother's aid only to receive a vicious kick to the side of the face sending him face first into a tree. "Fool! You call yourself a shinobi! You let your guard down!" Sasuke said, after taking out some wire to secure the shinobi.

Gozu as he was called raised himself to his feet and lashed out with his claw only for Naruto to slide under, grab his wrist and slam his fist into the man's ribs further damaging them. Gozu slumped to the side covering his side and leaving his face wide open.

Big mistake as Naruto followed up with another strike to his throat causing the chunin to double over and collapse from the pain.

Sakura was relieved and happy that the battle was over. It had been their first shinobi battle and it was won without any injuries! Kakashi appeared from where he was observing and congratulated them and quickly secured both prisoners to the same log.

For chunin the two of them had been arrogant and sloppy. They must have barely made chunin based on their strength compared to other shinobi from their exam.

He then turned to the bridge builder, "We need to talk about what is really going on." Tazuna looked around, "What do you mean?" Kakashi raised his killing intent and Tazuna backed up as the oppressive pressure bore down on him. "You lied about this mission. If it had been a higher rank shinobi or a squad sent you could have gotten us killed. You put the lives of my genin at risk and I want to know why?"

"They were trying to kill me to stop me from building the bridge!" Tazuna blurted out in gear. The Jounin's killer intent had the man squealing in no time.

"Why are there shinobi trying to stop you from building the bridge?" Kakashi asked the question in a more conversational tone and Tazuna relaxed. The architect sagged. "All right I'll tell you everything. It all started when a despicable man by the name of Gato came to our land."

Tazuna proceeded to tell the story of the suffering of Nami no Kuni. The four leaf-nin listened to his story.

"Tazuna-san there is no way we're going to let scum like Gato do what he wants."

Kakashi interrupted, "Naruto not so fast. This was supposed to have been a C ranked mission. Any mission that involves enemy shinobi is automatically at least a B ranked mission."

"Kakashi-sensei before you have us go back here me out. We have a very good opportunity here." Naruto had pictured his first attempt at an alliance much smaller, but a country would be a rather big boon. "We could earn ourselves some favorable trade priority if we manage to help wave complete this bridge. This sparks new trade opportunities to our village and if Gato is as rich as the client says I highly doubt he would just ignore what happened to his investment. It wouldn't take much effort for him to get information out of Tazuna about who he went to for help and even if he didn't get a hold of Tazuna who's to say others in his village don't already know? Gato might take this as an insult and subtly set up situations that might result in ambushes of our shinobi forces if we ever come to this area for other missions, not to mention what it says about Konoha's image if we let some tycoon be enough to steer away our forces to complete a mission. We could lose face against other villages or clientele."

Sakura remained quiet, she wanted to help the people of Nami no Kuni but with the way Naruto painted it, it was more than that. His explanation was far more thought out than anything she herself could have considered.

"Uzumaki is right. I am no coward. We should complete the mission." Sasuke insisted. This would be the perfect opportunity to test his strength.

"We can do it. This is the opportunity needed to test the fruits of our labor. Please Kakashi-Sensei; please let us continue the mission!"

' _That's my Sakura-chan._ ' Naruto thought with a grin.

Kakashi looked at his genin team and thought about the situation. It was almost certain the next enemy they faced would be a Jounin, but he was confident he could handle it if it came to that.

After all the abilities of his pupils were beyond that of average genin. He wasn't able to gauge how far they came against such pitiful chunin anyway, this would be their real test.

was never a certain thing he would have to be on his guard.

"If we are to continue this mission then I must test your convinction."

"What do you mean? We already said we wanted to continue." Naruto wondered just what Kakashi was up to.

"You have already been through this Naruto, but Sasuke and Sakura have not. Once I am done interrogating them they will have to kill our prisoners."

Everyone tensed at the announcement. Sakura froze, her eyes widening in horror. Sasuke went stiff, but steeled his resolve. This would be another test. This would be another step to see if he closer to matching…that man.

Sakura could feel her breathing becoming more rapid. Kill in cold blood? Maybe in the midst of battle when someone's life was in danger. But to consciously take someone's life? She had the resolve to fight, but the resolve to kill?

She turned to look at Naruto. The concern in his eyes. 'I…if I don't…' she then turned and looked to everyone. She would be letting her team down. The people of Nami no Kuni down. Swallowing a heavy gulp she took out a kunai. Her whole body was trembling. She felt like she was going to pass out.

"Let's just get this over with." The slight tremors in Sasuke's hand showed he was acting more aloof than what he really felt.

Being a shinobi. You were an assassin. You were often tasked with killing targets. Those with families. Those who were guilty. Those who were innocent. Those whose only crime was being born in a rival family.

You were a thief. Stealing knowledge. Stealing what could keep lives alive. Stealing village secrets to make destroying them easier.

You were a spy. You would infiltrate and also perform the expected duties of a thief. This one being more based on deception. An infiltrator more of the same deception and thieving but with the added bonus of lying to the face of those who believe you are a comrade and loved one, unaware that your purpose was to bring harm to them.

The worst part for them had been the waiting. The longer Kakashi took to interrogate them the prisoners the harder it had been to wait.

And when it came for the two of them kill they had made their choice.


	8. Demon of the Mist!

A Different Choice

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Naruto x ?

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Story Start

0

It had been a day since the run-in with the demon brothers and his team mates had been doing far better. Whereas Sasuke had been more of the same, quiet. Sakura had took the decision pretty hard, emptying the contents of her stomach not long after.

When they had stopped to camp she hadn't left Naruto's side who comforted her. Who had been there for her when she had a nightmare about what occurred. Taking your first life was never easy for anyone.

Something Naruto had learned quite some time ago. The worse part had been that it was an accident and he had went into shock. It took him some time and a good deal of counseling to get over what had happened.

They continued their journey leaving Fire Country and crossing over into the next territory.

"Kakashi-sensei how did such weaklings become Chunin?" Sasuke had been replaying the details of the battle over in his head. On how he could have been more proficient. What could have had done better. How that man would have defeated them.

"Ranks aren't across the aboard in every village. Some villages have different requirements, though among the great five we roughly adhere to similar tiers of strength. For other villages there are preference for other factors such as stealth or elemental affinity. In comes down to how each village structure their requirement for their ranks. Even exams and selection for ranks vary among the villages. Though rank is not always a way to identify someone's strength. A Genin from one village could be as strong as a chunin or even a jounin from another village. It comes down to experience, teaching, and the potential of that shinobi."

"It gets easier I promise." Naruto whispered to Sakura who seemed to be lost in her thoughts. "It never truly becomes easy or goes away, but it does get easier. There are many type of killings, but the biggest distinction of killers fit into two categories. The sick that enjoy praying on the weak or thrill of the hunt and those who put down the rabid dogs that threaten stability and protect their loved ones and village. If I have to. If I have to I will every single thug Gato sends our way to keep you safe Sakura-chan."

The declaration brought some color to Sakura's face. "Naruto-kun…"

She couldn't…she wouldn't be weak. She wouldn't be a burden to Naruto. She would do whatever it took to keep him…to keep everyone safe.

They soon found themselves taking yet another ride by boat to continue their journey before arriving back on land. Naruto once more was alerted when his clones had been destroyed.

This time Naruto sent a group of four, henge into their traveling group. And when they were killed he knew the identity of their next target.

"Momochi Zabuza, jounin level missing-nin from Kirigakure." He had only recognized by mere chance. By the fraction of a second he had caught the glimpse of Zabuza's weapon which he recognized from Tenten's descriptions. "Favors close combat, user of Kenjutsu and wielder of one of Kiri's legendary seven blades.

The Kubikiribōchō, an over-sized broad sword, utilizes the iron from all the blood it sheds, from whoever it cuts, in order to reform itself if damaged or broken. Highly skilled in silent killing and with a water affinity. Ranked fourth in strength in his generation.

A preferred counter-strategy would be to separate him from his weapon and bombard him with speed. With his high level of physical strength it would be preferable to attack with high level ninjutsu or genjutsu to lower his guard."

The last bit, a counter strategy was normally reserved for shinobi sent on assassination mission against high profile shinobi to weaken another's military force. If not for the blond's demeanor and care for his friend's Kakashi would have considered that Danzo himself had trained Naruto.

"How far?"

"One point three miles. Seeing as he destroyed my clones he will be on guard."

"Keep your guard up. I will be confronting Zabuza directly, do not interfere unless necessary."

* * *

"Get Down!" The split second after Kakashi's alert a giant blade spun horizontally heading straight for team seven. Instantly Kakashi was ready having planned out seven jutsu to use depending on how Zabuza would attack them.

Instantly he used an earth justu that formed a giant hand out of the ground and caught the massive sword in its grip depriving the man of his weapon.

Zabuza Momochi grunted, he had not expected the jounin to so easily deprive him of Kubikiribocho. He had expected a fool jounin with high chakra reserves, after all who would create so many kagebunshin and henge them as a distraction? What he did not expect for it to be Kakashi of one thousand techniques.

Seeing Zabuza's face the jounin correctly guessed Naruto hid his identity by having the clone that was him henge into a different form. A wise decision. With his identity shrouded Zabuza had little to go on or in ways of planning before this confrontation.

"Kagebunshin no Jutsu!" Springing into action fifty kagebunshin covered his team mates and the bridge builder from all sides.

Zabuza cursed his luck. What sort of monsters were he facing for a kid to be able to create that many of those bunshin and not be winded.

Zabuza began to let his chakra flow into the air, creating a dense fog. Though Kakashi's superior speed allowed him to be on Zabuza in a near instant. Deprive of his weapon Zabuza had no choice, but to use his sheath to block and countered with a strike of his leg.

Zabua quickly created mizu bunshin to cover him.

Kakashi revealed his Sharingan eye in exchange.

Without his weapon and Kakashi's sharingan he was at a disadvantage. With the way Kakashi was making short work of his clones he needed to think of something fast. Considering the reputation Konoha had for being soft with their genin he figured attacking them would be a good way to get Kakashi to lower his guard.

Quickly forming hand seals Zabuza created a water dragon which emerged from the lake and launched at the team.

"Katon: Great Fireball!" Sasuke launched the giant ball of fire which was easily extinguish and consumed by the Jounin's superior attack.

Sasuke's face stricken and Sakura gaped in shock at the attack heading right towards them as Tazuna panicked for the genin to do something.

Forming the tiger seal Naruto began to unleash a jutsu of his own. "Katon: Great Dragon Fire!" Naruto's own grand reserves allowed him to build up his chakra and unleashed a dragon shaped fireball that easily dwarfed Sasuke's attack. The moment he launched it the other three had to shield themselves from the heat as the flame began to dry of the moisture in the air, thinning the fog and crisping the grass.

Both techniques clashed and cancelling out each other resulting in a burst of steam. The momentary surprise and shock allowed Kakashi to get a shallow cut on Zabuza's neck. His own honed reflexes from escaping hunter-nin saved Zabuza's life.

With Kakashi on him once more Zabuza was forced into relying on Taijutsu. While his taijutsu was deadly if made contact it proved unable to land a hit on someone of Kakashi's caliber whose rival was venerable taijutsu master, the touted best in the nation of fire. At this rate he was going to lose so he had to take a risk.

Channeling chakra into his feet he took angle Kakashi's next strike into the area of his arm thick with muscle, but not in an area his aid wouldn't be able to amend in a few days top. With the Jounin in striking range he put all his power in the next punch nailing Kakashi in the ribs with enough force to send Kakashi reeling back, momentarily knocking the breath of out the jounin's lungs. If not for his protective jacket the blow would have likely caused him a rib fracture.

Zabuza charged to where his blade was kept and channeling chakra into his hand shattered the top layer fingers of the earth palm fracturing two of his fingers in the processes. Zabuza was no stranger to pain, but what was a little pain when the alternative was death.

With his redrawn blade Zabuza blocked the shuriken hurled at him by Kakashi who was preparing to launch a water dragon at him. Zabuza had no idea what compelled him to get into a contest with the shinobi, but he found himself forming the hand seals and summoning his own water dragon.

The two powerful techniques erupted from the lake and slammed into each other. With the momentary distraction Kakashi was already beginning to form the hand seals for his famed jutsu the Raikiri when out of nowhere something collided with Zabuza and sent him into a tree.

Out of nowhere appeared a shinobi, in Kiri garb whose identity was covered by a white mask.

"Thank you for your assistance in wearing down Momochi Zabuza. I have been tracking him for weeks, but you understand why I cannot allow shinobi from another nation to get a hold of him and learn sensitive information from our village." The shinobi shushin next to Zabuza's body, removing the senbon and laying the body down.

"Don't you just need the body and weapon if you're worried about your village's secrets? At least let us show the head at a bounty station to collect the bounty." Getting Zabuza's bounty would just be added to their mission pay for this mission and an added bonus of notoriety for his squad.

Seeing the hunter-nin's hesitation Kakashi made a move to rush him, but was not fast enough to catch him. He let out a curse as he was a second too late. It looked like Zabuza had an accomplice. Before he could relay this information he could feel himself getting weak. While he was physically okay for the most part the chakra consumption of the Sharingan on his body was simply monstrous. "Get us to the clien's house!" Kakashi managed to order before passing out.

* * *

Team seven arrived to a medium sized, two floor house that was directly adjacent to the ocean. They had followed the river until they reached the entrance of the main town of Wave Country before they walked towards were Tazuna lived, which was on the docks of said town, just by the ocean. They could see the bridge from there and they noticed that the distance between the bridge and Tazuna's house was not that big.

Tazuna's house had cream colored walls, which had a few rectangular windows, and had red colored tiles, with the second floor being smaller than the first one and resting directly on the center of the structure. And while the house looked comfy enough from the outside, one could clearly see that it lacked some maintenance, but compared to the others, this one actually looked nice.

"Father! You're home!"

Greeting them was a woman who looked to be in her late twenties, if maybe not early thirties. She was remarkably beautiful with dark blue colored hair that reached the small of her back and long bangs framed her pretty face. Her outfit was that of a simple reddish-pink and long flowing blue skirt, but if showed off her womanly form none the less. She had fair size breasts with wide hips and was fairly tall.

Tazuna beamed as he hugged his daughter. "Of course I came back Tsunami. And I brought a group of super ninja that will help us get rid of Gato," Tazuna said as he stepped out of the hug and to the side, so Tsunami could see Team seven.

Tsunami looked at them with a smile on her face as she bowed in thanks. "You all have my gratitude for bringing back my father safe and sound and helping us get rid of the despicable man," she said, her voice becoming somewhat harsh at the as her black eyes narrowed into a frown.

Kakashi just waved her off as he eye smiled. "There is no need for thanks Tsunami-san. My team and I are more than happy to help these people."

Naruto suppressed the urge to role his eyes. Kakashi sure seemed to be changing his tune with a pretty woman involved. Once they were all settled down Kakashi began telling them what to expect.

"Those kinds of masks are worn by the elite among the Kirigakure ninja's hunter-nins. They're called that because they dispose of corpses so thoroughly, it's as if they never existed. Hunter-nin specializes in hunting down missing-nin and obliterating their remains in order to ensure their villages respective secrets remain just that. A secret…The most effective thing would have been to destroy the body then and there to prevent the likelihood of being ambushed and the body being stolen. The method he used, senbon are far from the most effective tools in fact there are certain points on the body which hit could put someone in a near-death state. The way the Hunter-nin was being careful with the body not to mention the senbon were placed in an area that avoided hitting his spinal cord leads me to believe that Zabuza has an accomplice."

* * *

The hunter-nin leaned over Zabuza's body, just as they finished cleaning the wound on his left side, and then prepared to cut the bandages from around his face. The hunter was shocked when Zabuza's hand suddenly latched onto their arm. Zabuza then said in deep voice, "That's alright, I'll do it myself!"

The hunter-nin only sounded amused as they said, "Oh, you've already came back to life?"

Zabuza suddenly grabbed the needles still stuck in his neck with his right hand and roughly pulled them out as he said, "Damn, you sure are rough!"

As a small spray of blood erupted from Zabuza's neck, the hunter said in concern, "Please be careful pulling those out, Zabuza-sama. If you're not careful, you really will kill yourself in your weakened condition…"

Zabuza could only look on with annoyance as he said, "How long do you plan on wearing that stupid mask?"

The hunter just softly giggled as they removed the mask to reveal a soft and attractive face. Full lips, smooth skin, and silky ebony hair met Zabuza's eyes as the hunter said, "It reminds me of the old days. Plus it was useful for this act. If I hadn't saved you, you definitely would have died."

"If you were going to put me into a momentary death state you didn't have to target my neck. You could have aimed the acupuncture state. You are annoying as always." finished Zabuza with his hand resting on his sword.

"Exactly, the neck doesn't have much muscle, its easier to hit the acupuncture there. You shouldn't be able to move much for about a week." An expression came across the hunter-nin's face. "That boy. The blond. He isn't normal. He created dozen of Kagebunshin and used a powerful fire jutsu without being winded, not to mention he was able to follow your and his teacher's movements. He is at least a highly skilled chunin if not approaching jounin level."

Zabuza only tightened his grip as he scowled, "Yes, when I was blasting my killer intent that boy's expression harden while his team mates froze. While I deal with Kakashi you'll have to keep an eye on that boy, if possible take him out sooner."

The hunter-nin's expression indicated she was alarmed at this possibility.

"Despite your cleverness you're a pure kid. I have no idea why I put up with you."

"Hmm, what can I say I'm a sweet young lady The hunter then stopped for a moment and looked out at the water, "Without us even noticing, the mist has lifted…next time…will you be alright?"

"Next time I'll break the Sharingan." Zabuza promised darkly.


	9. Meeting Haku!

A Different Choice

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Naruto x ?

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Story Start

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Kakashi had theorized that Zabuza would be out for roughly a week meaning that they had that much time to prepare and it would be a good two days still until Kakashi would be able to move around and recuperate from his chakra exhaustion to train them.

"What are we supposed to do for training until then?"

The door to the house opened to reveal a little boy wearing overalls and a strange hat. As the boy came in, he said, "What's the point in training?" Apparently he had been listening in.

Tazuna instantly brightened and shouted. "Inari, where have you been?"

"Welcome home, grandpa." Inari said as he walked over and gave Tazuna a hug.

Tsunami, seeing her son's rudeness, said, "Inari, greet our guests properly! They're the ninja that brought your grandfather home safely."

"But Mama, they are just going to die." said the little boy in a flat voice. Naruto and the rest were taken aback by this, and who wouldn't be when a child dismissed they were as good as dead.

an eight-year-old says you're going to die. Naruto was flustered and was almost ready to smack the kid. He may have become calmer over the past few months, but he still had his buttons.

Inari looks over the shinobi then says, "No one can beat Gato and his men…"

Sasuke only snorted as he glared at the boy. Naruto by this point decides to try and cheer the boy up, "Don't worry, kid; with us here Gato will be stopped and we'll protect your grandpa. Normally we shinobi don't act in the role as heroes, but you have my word we won't fail."

Inari just grunts as he says, "Hero? You're dumb, there's no such thing!"

Naruto shook his head, saddened to here such a thing from a child. "Whether you believe us or not, we are shinobi. We are paid to do a job, and we will do it at the cost of our own lives if necessary. It doesn't matter if you think of us as heroes or not, but we will not fail."

Naruto then locked his blue eyes with Inari again, causing the boy to drop on his behind. "I cannot and will not die before I achieve my dreams. In seven day's time Gato will be dead. That I assure you."

Not long after Naruto's words Inari had stormed off in a huff. When Sakura questioned what could have turned a boy so sullen that's when they learned the story of Kaiza, this town's hero who had stood up to Gato only to have been killed by his mercenaries to set an example. Now more than ever Naruto was determined to kill this Gato.

000

Naruto had been fairly surprised when Kakashi tasked him to oversee his teammates training the first few days.

Naruto decided to start training with Sakura as he had much bigger plans for Sasuke. The last Uchiha would make a better ally then enemy.

Sakura he decided had high potential for Iijutsu so he taught her the healing palm technique. While Naruto knew a few basic medical jutsu his vast chakra made it difficult for him to use them to the level a professional medic nin could, but Sakura's uncanny perfect chakra control made it where she was perfect for it.

Her reaction to slashing his arm and having her heal it resulted in an earful he would be dealing for the coming weak if not longer. He hadn't meant to panic the girl, but flesh wounds were something he recovered from thanks to the Kyuubi's healing factor.

Between that and having her work on the water walking exercise Sakura would be preoccupied for the next few days.

He hadn't been surprised to learn that all the while he was showing Sakura that Sasuke had been observing.

"Why? If you were this smart at the academy why didn't you show it?" The chakra reserves. The Jutsu. As much as Sasuke didn't want to admit it Naruto could have easily been a contender for the top rank.

"If my own allies think I'm weak then surely my enemies will underestimate me." Naruto answered with a simple shrug.

Sasuke mentally chastise himself for being so stupid. Naruto had fooled him…fooled them all so easily. He would not be taken in so easily.

"How would you like to unlock your Sharingan?"

That was all that needed to be said to get Sasuke's full attention. "Explain…please." He grounded out. He had slowly gained some modicum of respect for Naruto who showed he was more than some average shinobi.

"I may not know how your clansmen activated the Sharingan, but I have heard there is a way to activate it in response to a life threatening situation. If we create that need we could possibly trigger it."

"I highly doubt training will cause that effect."

Naruto grinned, "No, but being put in an actual battle will. I'm leaving a dozen kagebunshin around Tazuna's house to keep an eye on him. You and I are going information gathering to learn all we can about Gato and if we're lucky we'll encounter some of his mercenaries. Pushing you to your limits against enough of them should qualify."

00000000

For the first few hours anytime Nauto so much as brought up Gato's name he was screamed at, ignored, or shooed away. Everyone in this town seemed frightened of the man and while Naruto knew for good reason he didn't think it would be this bad.

Finally, someone gave Naruto the answers he was looking for. An older blond, forties, soft lilac blue eyes with her hair done in the style of a single pony-tail. Her clothes were worn out, gray, and patchy like most of the inhabitants.

She was one of the few who still had a fire in her, and was willing to tell Naruto of who he wanted to know. Like that massive dam his kagebunshin had come across when he sent them exploring when they first arrived the town.

Gato essentially had a strangle hold on the country. Having bought all the power and water stations and bleeding the citizens dry with his outrageous prices.

Having a complete monopoly on the shipping industry along with many other industries throughout a few countries.

Thanks to the man's damn a massive river had been turned into a near dying stream. The citizens of the settlements were staring as the lack of water meant they couldn't tend to their crops and the dying plant life meant the animals migrating to elsewhere. With the lack of vital plants for cotton or other such things that also meant a strangle hold on the clothing economy except for once more Gato's goods.

Even the Daimoyo had been killed to keep the man unopposed. Everyone has been taxed to near poverty levels driving those with little money outside of the country.

With his money Gato had people working for him in other countries. Fonding Mercenaries, pirates, drug lords…anyone willing to work for him to get his hand on the resources and cut of the profits.

He was a criminal of the highest order and a big status symbol in the continent with countless connections. Naruto knew eliminating the man would paint a target on not only the killer's back, but the country as well. Only by negotiating an alliance with wave with Konoha would anyone think twice about attacking the country again.

"We got your information, what's your plan now Uzumaki?" Sasuke questioned him as Naruto began pondering if it would be truly wise for him and Sasuke to publically challenged a man with that much wealth or influence.

"I admit, attacking them head on will be too foolish. I underestimated Gato's wealth and influence. Give me a day to think about how to approach this. In the mean time how would you like to learn the Mizu Bunshin? It'll probably be a tough jutsu for you, being a water jutsu and its not as good as Kagebunshin, but for the duration of while we're in Wave not to mention whenever you're in water territory it serves for a satisfactory distraction and crowd control technique. Also will help you build up your chakra reserves."

Sasuke merely grunted in response. Well something was better than nothing and while Sasuke was prideful he was not eager to challenge a man who could practically hire an army of shinobi in retaliation for messing with his business.

Returning back to Tazuna's house Naruto left behind a kagebunshin to instruct Sasuke while he went about training of his own. By the dozens he was creating kagebunshin and henging them in the countless faces he had seen during the journey into town. He would have his clones scour every bit of inch they could of this area. Memorize every face and study every inch for the coming battle to come. If we got lucky he would find cracks in Gato's infrastructures and maybe even discovery Zabuza's whereabouts.

Naruto took off his weights and began practicing his Taijutsu form. Having grabbed some compact on the go food bars he continued his training far into the night. He began mentally going over the battle that Kakashi and Zabuza had. The dispel of his countless bunshin gave him many different perspectives to analyze every jutsu and movement.

Zabuza had escaped by the skin of his teeth. From when the battle started he was at a disadvantage without his weapon and the knowledge that Kakashi had of his opponent allowed him to formulate a plan and be ready. Being a former ANBU captain he was sure Kakashi at least heard stories of Zabuza's abilities. If not for the hunter-nin's intervention Zabuza would not have escaped that battle alive.

Zabuza would not only be ready, but his aid would be there as well. An aid that seemed to be a skilled iijutsu-user at that. He would need to be ready.

0000000000000

Haku picked her way forward through the brush as she neared the clearing where the herbs she was seeking grew. Pushing aside the branches in front of her, she came across a startling sight.

The blond. Haku bent down and placed her basket on the ground, straightening her pink kimono as she stood up, she steeled herself. Walking softly over to his sleeping form, she bent down and kneeled near his head. She looked closer and compared him to what she could remember of him from yesterday. Up close he looked a fair bit more muscular with frizzy hair and he had marks on his face as well.

But tried as she might the nin could not find it in herself to end his life. Unbeknownst to her the blond had Kagebunshin he created on stand by just in case someone tried to attack him while he slept.

"Hey you shouldn't be sleeping out here."

Naruto opened his eyes to see a feminine face staring at him. Naruto lightly blushed as the person before him was pretty with her pale complexion and deep raven hair. I guess I overdid it while training." Getting a better look at her the woman in front of him was wearing a pink kimono that seemed to be slightly baggy on her. It seemed to hide her form well. "What are you doing out here? Its not safe to be a pretty girl in this area. I hear Gato employs people who are some real scumbags."

"I am here to collect herbs for my friend that is injured. Since it is early in the morning, I don't have to worry about Gato." She replied.

"Well that's nice, how about I help you?" Naruto offered.

After introducing herself Haku proceeded to show Naruto what herb to look for and the two spent five minutes gathering the herbs. Naruto placed the herbs he gathered into Haku's basket.

"To have been training out here to get stronger. You must be strong I bet. Do you have a goal you are trying to attain?"

Naruto thought for a few seconds. "I train not only to become strong to become Hokage, but to bring admiration and honor to my lost clan and to protect those I care about."

"We have a similar ideal I see. I believe becoming strong is a result of wanting to protect those you consider precious. Without the one I consider precious I wouldn't know what to do. I think a person can only grow stronger the more they want to protect their precious people." Haku stated her reason. Naruto liked that logic.

"You know that makes a lot of sense. I am definitely motivated by those I care about. Protecting them is my utmost concern." Naruto said as he smiled at Haku. They sat in comfortable silence as the sun continued to rise in the sky. Haku got up from her position and grabbed the basket.

"It was nice to talk to you Naruto-san but I have to go." Haku bowed slight and turned to leave.

"Tell Zabuza that we don't have a reason to fight. I'm pretty sure Konoha wouldn't pass up the chance to recruit someone of his caliber to Konoha. I personally know the Hokage so I can vouch for you guys." Naruto told Haku who flinched.

"You are mistaken Naruto-san. I do not know any Zabuza." Haku made a potion to her sleeve where she kept senbons.

"Please, you carry yourself far too guarded to be a civilian. Not to mention my kagebunshin dispelled a few minutes ago after seeing you contemplate whether to attack me.

Haku-san, I don't want us to be enemies. I can see it. You have a gentle heart. One not made for killing."

"Regardless Naruto-san we are on opposite sides. When the time that comes for us to fight I must do what I most to protect Zabuza-sama."

"Then until then how about a truce? I am looking to eliminate Gato and help the condition of this country. If Zabuza agrees not to kill the bridge builder I'll pay him three times what Gato was offering him."

Haku was a bit skeptical at this. "Many have tried and failed to kill Gato. What makes you any different?"

"What can I say I have a habit of being surprise." He replied with a wink.

Something about the blond's conviction and confidence made Haku want to believe him.

"I also would hate to have to fight you." He added as Haku contemplated his words and linked them to his first reaction upon seeing her.

'You do know I'm a boy right?" Haku said as she watched Naruto's reaction. Naruto was shocked at the sight of such a beautiful boy before he began laughing.

"That would have gotten me Haku-chan, but you're kind of lacking something." Naruto said pointing to his adam's apple. "Not to mention you don't smell like any guy I ever met."

"I am in fact a boy." Haku denied the claim that she was female. Zabuza taught her that hiding her identity sense kunoichi by far were targeted for violent and sexual crimes by a substantial rate not to mention decimation.

"I'll keep your secret between us Haku- _chan_ , but you don't fool me. I hope we can meet again before the battle. Also your chest bindings are showing."

Haku looked down and immediately cursed herself for being so gullible. She didn't know what to make of the blond, but one thing was for sure. If he had wanted to if he could have made the first move and attack her after his clones had dispelled. Without a large body of water she was at a clear disadvantage in this forest area. Either way if she did agree to meet him again she might be able to pump information out of him about his team mates.

"There is a festival over in a town eight miles from here which will be occurring two days from now. Its one of the few towns that has any money left. If you want we could attend." By tomorrow Zaubza would have recovered enough to be able to hold his own against any of Zabuza's bandits or so called samurai.

"I'll see you there Haku-chan." Naruto replied with a grin. He was sure Haku would be using the opportunity to try to get information out of him, but all the while he would be doing the same.

Six days. They had six days to get ready.


	10. Wave Mission! Day 2!

A Different Choice

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Naruto x ?

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Author's Note

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I wonder if any of you can guess who this manga character is I added. Here's a hint. Thematically a Shinobi but not from the Naruto's series.

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Story Start

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With his clones further overlooking the training of his team mates Naruto continued looking into the situation. Further investigation showed that there were steps Gato took to horde the water supply of the island.

A combination of taking on various cheap construction contracts to build a massive wall that would border the island as well as many thugs use as his guards.

Naruto could only theorize that he might have either bought off bandits or leased criminals from lockup for a hefty fee to make up his forces and let them do what they please short of killing people indiscriminately. After all dead citizens meant less money for Gato to squeeze tax money out of them.

Naruto continued his mission of information gathering. Arriving to one of the large towns he took notice of the condition of the dying land. What looked to be a once flourishing settlement thanks to the water was slowly dying out.

Per usual he was taking down note of how many thugs were employed in the town, what they carried, all the useful information. He would need to know how many kagebunshin to create, the time to deploy them, and how to avoid dragging civilians into the fight. He would have to formulate a route through each of the settlements and move at a speed faster than information could be sent and eliminate each and every unit.

There was also the matter of getting his hands on Gato's money. He would need access to bank accounts. Passwords. Everything. Just killing Gato would be a waste without getting everything he could out of the man. That also includes information on his cronies.

As Naruto continued looking around he caught sight of something interesting. It was a crowd of people gathering around someone.

The person was a young woman, petite in stature with straight dark hair draping below her shoulder in the style of a ponytail. She also had fetching deep purple eyes, but it was not her looks that caught his interest, but what he felt.

He moved closer and that's when it happened. Blinking to existence were vibrant prismatic butterflies.

Was it some kind of Genjutsu? If it was it was a powerful one to instantly trigger when one was in a certain range.

However, instead of becoming completely mesmerized like the rest of the villagers surrounding her appeared to be, he instead smiled warmly and watched as she performed a dance while directing the butterflies using her hands.

She looked to be roughly his age and despite wearing the worn down rags like everyone else had a pleasant aura about her.

Once the performance was over those who had gathered around dropping one cent yen and even some five cent yen coins in her jar and the crowd began to disperse.

Not too soon after a group of men walked up to the young woman who was counting the yen pieces.

"Hey! You girl!" It was a group of three men. One stout one with a short well-trimmed beard, another was average height with messy blond hair, and the last one had black, greased hair. They were all wearing old and worn out looking military outfits that belonged to civilian officers. While most war or combat between nations were primarily taken up by shinobi it was not unheard of for loyal citizens to join none shinobi based units or make up the army in nations where hidden villages were either small or minor using technology to make up for their lack of chakra and jutsu.

The one with the greased up hair seemed to be the leader with the he was doing the talking. "Got you some nifty tricks there huh? Well looks like no one told you the rules."

The young woman looked up at him with an expression mixed with apprehension and annoyance.

"See we're the peace keepers in this place and if you want to set up in this town you got to pay a fee like everyone else. Now I'm willing to overlook this if you pay up."

That was when the one with the messy blond hair spoke up. "Now we're willing to forgive you this one time if you fork over seventy percent of your earnings."

A scowl of disgust formed on Naruto's face. His fingers already cracking as he flexed them and closed his fist. They were going down.

"Did you hear us girl. Say something." The lead thug demanded grabbing the girl by the shoulder.

Big mistake.

The next second anyone knew the man was stumbling back, wailing and screaming clutching his hand which was now missing several fingers.

"You little bitch!" The stout man shouted as he and the blond haired man brought out katanas.

That was when she took on a stance and Naruto caught the flash of something.

A tanto.

They both charged to which the girl skillfully blocked the first, slip under the second katana and slid her blade into the stomach of the stout man. He began screaming and stumbled back onto the ground clutching his side.

The blonde began quivering and let out a wail. "You…you'll be sorry. I'll get boss Gato and he'll have your head." He took off fleeing leaving his comrades on the ground.

All the while the town's people were looking on. When some of them came out Naruto expected them to check up on the girl. What happened next though showed just how much the people feared Gato.

"You stupid girl what have you done!"

"You killed us all!"

"Gato's men are going to torch this town for this!"

"Leave! Leave before we suffer for what you did!"

They continued to jeer similar comments. The girl though, a bitter look flash in her eyes, but nonetheless the girl said nothing, gathering up her little jar and began to leave.

This wasn't right.

Naruto wait until they were a bit out of town before approaching the girl. He had to admit she interested him a bit.

"Hey! Stranger-san! Wait up!" He called out to the girl who stopped in her tracks.

With that she answered icily,"What do you want?" Her disposition from the events that just happened was no surprise.

"I don't approve of what the people of that town, motivated by fear or not. Listen I know how shady that is, a stranger approaching you and all, but you have talent. Were you trained in the use of chakra?"

Her hostile expression hadn't changed. She also wasn't answering.

"Look, if you want come to Hisoka town; my team and I are doing a mission and well…" He should have put more thought into what he wanted to say. "I really didn't plan this out," he said sheepishly rubbing the back of his head. Despite his attempts to seem disarming the girl had not once let down her guard. "I'm…my clan name is Uzumaki, ask around that town if you're trying to find me. I know I'm not coming off as the most trustworthy person, but I hate to see anyone with talent not use it, so yeah…bye." With that the girl turned around and continued on without saying a word.

Naruto fought back a sigh. ' _Great. That was really good my convincing skills are top notch._ ' He was going to have to work on that in the future.

0000

Back at Hisoka Town, Wave

Sasuke was in the midst of standing on a lake while balancing a leaf on his fingers. Right now he could only walk on water and needed more chakra control practice until he could run across water.

With the copy Naruto left behind to supervise the training was with Sakura. "Alright Naruto-kun what am I learning today?"

"Kage Bunshin." He answered as she gave him a look of surprise.

"Until you build up your reserves massively it would be for the best you only use this technique, while I or Kakashi-sensei are supervising you. Now this technique is different from other clone techniques as they are corporeal copies that can bleed and will disperse after a strong enough hit, but they have advantages that the others don't have.

For one they can perform any elemental technique and not just the technique which element their composition is made out of. When dispelled chakra left over is sent back to the user and the reverse holds true. Chakra can be sent to them to extend their time or reinforce them.

The most useful aspect is for them to send information back to the user when retained. Which is useful since the number of clones can multiply the amount of experience gained is in correlation to the number of clones used.

Now I'm going to show you the hand seals. Once you get sufficient mastery over the technique you'll only have to concentrate on it and use the clone hand seal."

It took Sakura all of ten minutes before she could perfectly mimic Naruto and as expected she could only make two clones. To get the most out of them one was a scroll on Iryo jutsu while the other was water walking.

With the day almost over he called over his two team mates for one more lesson.

"Alright you two I have one more thing I want to show you." He said as he ruffled through the pockets for the slips.

"I don't know if I can learn anything else today Naruto-kun." Sakura was exhausted, and would have liked nothing more than take a nice hot bath and go to sleep.

"Paper Uzumaki?" Sasuke was not impressed by the two slips he pulled out.

"Well Uchiha-san for your information these slips are the tools to help you two learn a skill most shinobi don't regularly start to learn until they start training to become Jounin."

That got Sasuke's attention. Sasuke didn't know whether to be annoyed by how effortlessly the blond seemed to make him look dumb or happy at how useful he was. "You got my attention."

"We…and by that I mean you two are going to be learning about your elemental affinities."

"What good would that do for me? My affinity is fire." He was an Uchiha. Uchias were fire. Enough said.

"But are you yourself an Earth affinity or do you simply believe because that's the element your clan was known to be attuned to? Just let me finish."

"Elemental affinity?" This piqued Sakura's interest as the most affinities were discussed were in passing nature during the academy's history lessons.

"Indeed chakra-chan. Hence why I have been getting you two to focus so much of your time on chakra control exercises. Manipulation of your element is difficult and the best use of it requires high level manipulation. In other words at your current levels you can do the basic, Sasuke has the chakra but not the control and your problem is vice versa Sakura-chan for any manipulation beyond the basics. "

Sakura couldn't help herself, "Why did you never show aptitude like this when we were at the academy? You could have easily gotten the top scores."

"I had no interest of showing off Sakura-chan. I wouldn't make a good shinobi if everyone knew what I could do." He answered with a chuckle. "Geography. Cooking. The Bingo books. Business management. You name it and Kazuma-oji had it drilled in my head. Being the last two of our clan its his utmost desire to see it revived and he has essentially poured all his hopes into me."

"But…but to put that much pressure into one person." Sakura's expression turned into one of concern.

Naruto folded his arms behind his head and rested on a tree. "Nah, it was fine. I cheated." He admitted as Sakura sent him a skeptical look. "Kagebunshin Sakura-chan remember." He pointed out as the pink haired girl began to blush. How could that have slipped his mind. "In any given day I can go through weeks if not months of information over the course of a day. Kazuma-oji literally spent a year figuring out, writing down, and planning everything out with his own use of Kage bunshin, before literally spending the next few years instructing my kage bunshin nearly day in and day out until it was permanently etched into my memory. That's why we live in a modest house. All that money went into getting scrolls and whatever he could find on subjects from foreign nations, that was the real killer for our budgets. Exporting and shipping from other nation."

"So in other words you're a walking library?" Just how much did Naruto know.

"To be fair if you can use a technique like Kagebunshin why wouldn't you exploit it? But I wouldn't say library. Even that method has the dangers of the mental feedback. Its only been until the last year or so that I could handle the feedback of mass dispels or a backlog of days information. It took years of meditating and having my kage bunshin dispel in shifts and mastering the technique and varied mental commands until I can use it like I do now. Its only been these past few months that the sheer information gathering and training gains I have been receiving can be considered monstrous as I still not only had to memorize and commit the information to memory, but wait until not only was my mind developed enough for the information, but my body physically trained up enough to start putting a lot of what I've been learning to use. Anyway we kind of went off track of what I started talking about. Anyway what we have been doing has been about increasing your control and stamina as well as setting you to the path of physical conditioning.

That's where we come to the physical nature of things is what happens when we use elemental jutsu which changes the physical form of our chakra. The using part is easy, but the manipulation is difficult in this training method because each element is different in how you handle it. Which is why most shinobi only ever master two elements and even then its more accurate to say master one and is proficient in the other. The time to practice and master multiple is more time than people are willing to put into it unless they have a Kekki Genkai that makes them highly attuned to one or more element. That in a nutshell is elemental composition.

Now spatial recomposition determines the power and scope of the jutsu. Both are necessary to not only mastering your element, but leading you down the track of creating your own jutsu." Naruto extended his hand forward and pointing two fingers outwards. A strong force of wind gathered around him causing his clothes to begin to flap. "Futon: Bisecting Blade!" Naruto swung his arm vertically through a tree as a long and thin compressed blade of air slashed through the spot he cut. The tree soon fell over with a resounding crash. "My bisecting blade, tuned enough to where I want to leave a superficial cut or with enough chakra cut through stone itself. Though it relies on both my chakra and my own physical strength and mastery of arm movement to generate the speed and precision to follow through. How I manipulate it takes the technique anywhere from C-rank to A-rank. And that my friends is…"

"Right, right we get it. Train us already!" One would think it was Sasuke's birthday and it was time to open his presents with the way his eyes lit up.

"Alright calm down." He hand them both the slips. "Concentrate your chakra into them. If the papers turn to dust your element is Earth. Fire if it blackens and wind if it splits in half. For Water it will moisten and crumple up if its Lightning." He explained as he watched the two poured their elements into the paper.

Naruto was faintly surprise when Sasuke's paper had started to blacken only to immensely crumple up. Though Sasuke more than Naruto was surprised.

"Seems like you have a major Lightning affinity with a minor fire affinity."

 _'Lightning. I will have to learn Lightning Jutsu. Does…does Naruto know any Lightning Jutsu?'_

"I would go with Kakashi-sensei if you want instruction in Lightning jutsu Sasuke-san. Lightning is one of my lesser used elements."

Sasuke nodded. Useful information. Perhaps he had been too quick to dismiss his team as useless and holding him back. Naruto was proving his merit and even Sakura was improving. She no longer fan girled him and she was actually training. That made her league above all the rest of those gold diggers that pestered him and were trying to get in on his Uchiha name.

Sakura's paper on the other hand moistened slightly before it turned completely to dust. "Wow Sakura-chan you have affinities for Earth and Water, though the water one is there slightly." He paused upon receiving the feedback of one of his clones dispelling. "Looks like we're done for the day. Tsunami-san has finished cooking dinner."

Sakura was relieved while Sasuke was disappointed.

He wanted to learn more about his element. He could see it now. Striking that man down with heavenly retribution using lightning. Oh this was giving him more creative ideas than simply using fire jutsu.

As they were making their way another one of Naruto's kagebunshin had dispelled. 'Perfect' he thought. It was time to go pay a certain missing-nin a visit.


	11. A New Challenger Approaches!

A Different Choice

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Naruto x ?

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Author's Note

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The way this arc has been playing out is thanks to a fanfic I read a long time ago. Wave Arc was extended, Gato had a secretary managing the accounts and then it was that fic or another one where Naruto got his hand on Gato's information and gave thirty percent of the money to wave.

I can't remember either fics, but I remember enough stuff that I've been basing a lot of scenes off it. As I remember another fic where Naruto snuck in and assassinated Gato. (This has probably been done a few times.)

But since this is me you guys know I can't help but overthink and meticulously go about this is the smartest way to do this to maximize the gain of something hence I incorporated the elements.

Also if there are any suggestions for female characters you guys want to see more of or give suggestions just let me know.

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Story Start

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A single Kagebunshin had made its way into Gato's estate on the island.

The place was massive. It was like a castle with all the signs of the man's ego being strewn about. Personalized statues of himself adorning the hallways.

The view it gave magnificent.

Countless hallways and balconies that served little to no purpose. A huge fortress so to speak.

Littered with guards who considering Gato's greed were your common thugs and not professionals. A unit of shinobi would be rather expensive for a lot of businesses, often ranging from a few million yen notes depending on the time range and scope of the mission to a payment as large as a quarterly of what a company would make in a year.

With ease Naruto just simply strolled by with the academy invisibility jutsu. Hard to find something when you don't know you're looking for it.

This place had many rooms. Living rooms. Office rooms. Bedrooms. But more than anything there was storage rooms. The copy made more clones which then proceeded to take out scrolls and began doing inventory of everything they could find.

Naruto's clone's journey would have taken hours if not for the face he created more copies and kept searching until he found what he was looking for.

A massive office filled with, filing cabinets, portraits and all sorts of other high-class stuff littering the space. And of course the man himself was there. For all the talk and fear surrounding him Naruto had expected more than a gray haired midget with glasses and a cane.

Naruto sat in and watched as the business was conducted. Silently watching as Gato went about his business and had meetings.

He took in everything he was learning. One of the common people Gato associated with was Waraji, a tattoo covered brute with the eye-patch dress whose torso was covered in bandages and wore black pants. He was carrying around a katana and seemed to be one of Gato's personal thugs. The only name that stood out was 'Zori' that was sent into town about some disturbance.

He sat there and listened a Gato complained about Zabuza's failure and how the wait was causing him money. Naruto had to steel himself from just killing the man in anger and disgust. He needed the man alive for now to get his information and began putting everything in place. He needed to get access to Gato's account and start pilfering without alerting his associates. He would just need a few days to get everything in order.

He continued to watch as Waraji brought up the suggestion of hiring Kirigakure hunter nins.

"It would be too costly." Gato dismissed. "Registered shinobi would be less likely to take my bribe for certain actions and the last thing I need is for anyone sticking their nose in my business. My competitors would sell their soul for the low down on my practices and there's no telling how quick those no good shinobi would stab me in the back for the right price. "

For a man like Gato reputation was important and he was not foolish enough to think his thugs stood any chance against a unit of shinobi.

"Boss Gato, got a guy here who wishes to speak with ya. Something about a job." Entering was whom Naruto assumed was Zori. A light skinned man with bluish-white hair and black eyes. He had on a purple hat, wearing a blue jacket with multiple pockets and black pants with a blue handle katana strapped to his side.

"This better be good Zori as I don't like my time being wasted by no names," Gato exclaimed, leaning back in his seat.

The man who entered had black hair which he kept back in a small topknot. His face though was rather unremarkable with his only distinguishing features being his slightly narrow eyes. He was wearing a pale green kosode with slightly darker green hakama, tied around the waist with a dark green sash.

"Aah Gato-san pleasure to meet your acquaintance. I am Kisaragi Saemon and I believe I can help you with a little problem you're having. Rumor has it you've been having trouble eliminating a bridge builder and I am here to offer my services."

"Oh, and what makes you believe you are qualified?"

"Perhaps you heard of the Kouga Clan?" he simply asked airily.

Anyone who knew about shinobi knew a fair bit amount the Kouga clan. At one time the strength of their clan was one of the strongest in the old times. For a short while they were contenders to be one of the strongest before their numbers fell to the might of the Senjuu.

Either way they were known for their assassination techniques. "I come not for your money, but for information." He pulled out a scroll and unrolled to which Naruto's eyes widened.

The girl. That girl from yesterday.

"I have heard rumors a girl matching this description was seen near here. I would simply like aid in tracking her down."

The grin on Gato's face couldn't grow any bigger if he tried. This fool would take care of all his problems and all he want was some help finding a girl? It would hardly take any effort on his part just sending a message to his underlings to capture her and bring her in. "Kisaragi you propose an interesting proposal. If you can eliminate a little thorn by the name of Momochi Zabuza and his little partner you got yourself a deal."

"Hhm how bothersome. Not what I had in mind, but I suppose that cannot be helped."

Once the transaction was over the copy knew what he needed to do. The original Naruto needed to know this and quick.

* * *

Something was wrong. That much Zabuza knew when he woke up.

"Don't bother, I already have your sword. You don't react I don't attack simple as that."

Zabuza turned to his side to face the speaker. To his distate it was that damn blond brat from Kakashi's squad.

"I know what you're thinking, you don't need your weapon to take me right? But what you should also be thinking he's a kagebunshin and he might have booby-trapped this whole area with who knows what. Like…the chakra suppression seal which won't burn out for two hours." Naruto was rather proud of himself for painting the seals onto Zabuza without waking the man up. And of course he would never admitted to being twitchy the whole time and almost throwing up twice when he thought the man was waking up.

The man had a reputation after all. He'd be insane not be at least a bit worried.

"Where is Haku?" The Demon of the Mist demanded.

"Chasing my kagebunshin. I flared my chakra and drew her out and yes don't bother I know Haku-chan is a she."

 _'Damnit Haku. Of all the times for you to fail. What was the point in all that training?'_

"Ignoring what this looks like I'm not here to kill you. Seems my message to you didn't make its impact so let me try directly. I want you to join Konoha. I want you to become a vassal to the Uzumaki clan."

"Clan? What clan kid? Last I heard your clan was wiped out."

Naruto bristled but kept his composure. "Its my plan to restore my clan. And what clan wouldn't be complete without…"

"…servants." Zabuza spat out interrupting him.

"Actually I was thinking more along the lines of loyal guards. Powerful ones. You see Zabuza if I wanted to kill you I could have. Stealth and information are powerful tools as I demonstrated. Taking you head on as I am now, I might be able to put up a fair fight against you, but its uncertain if I could win. I have my speed, but you debately have superior and without a doubt you have experience. Sure I could overwhelm you with sheer numbers, but being in a water based area gives you the advantage in terrain and powers up your suiton techniques. But why go that route when we can go a route beneficial to the both of us? Like for instance let's talk about your contract with Gato."

Zabuza raised an eyebrow, "Kid, I highly doubt you can negotiate a better price than what Gato can pay."

"I don't have to, but I can give you valuable information. Gato has put a hit out on you."

"What?" the Jonin exclaimed, this bit of news while not completely surprising was still expected coming from the Konoha nin.

"For the last few days I've been gathering information on Gato and the situation on the island. I broke into his mansion for the purpose of getting information of pilfering his money, but while eavesdropping I witnessed

Gato hiring someone from the Kouga clan who is not only going to kill Tazuna, but you and Haku as well."

Zabuza, eyes showing his alarmed response at the sudden news. There was hardly a shinobi alive who at one time or another who hadn't heard of the Kouga clan. They were a renown clan of skilled assassins. One Kouga shinobi was often worth an entire squad from a minor village or a small team of Jounin from one of the five great villages.

"You tell an interesting story brat, and that's all that is until I can confirm it." Naruto expected as much. No shinobi worth their salt would take anything at face value. "And if I find out you're trying to play me you're going to wish you had died the way I originally planned to kill you." The certainty of brutal torture was conveyed quite frankly in Zabuza's eyes.

"Then good thing I have nothing to worry about," Naruto replied with an uneasy laugh. "If you want to contact me again, just tell Haku-chan to come meet me in the place we truly met, she'll know where that is." Naruto was thankful he hadn't waited. Another day or so Zabuza would have been in a good enough condition that this little stunt would have gotten him killed.

All Naruto knew was that he needed to worn his team about what he learned and track down that girl before that Kouga nin got to her.


End file.
